Wayward
by dazdnconfusd730
Summary: Giovanni in control. A rebellion to tear him down. Ash in the middle, with ties to both sides.
1. Chapter 1

A shadowed figure ducked into an alleyway, pulling a long black coat tighter around its body. It wasn't that cold out, but curfew had been in effect for nearly three hours, and to be spotted or recorded on camera would mean prison or death.

The source had said that this was one of the few alleys without cameras and a hooded head shifted, glancing around to confirm that fact. Deeming it safe, a pale hand came up and tugged the hood down, revealing a young woman in her mid-twenties. She shook her head and a long red braid fell from where it had been confined.

The alleyway was empty and she checked her watch, wondering why the contact wasn't there yet. And then, from all the way at the end of the alley, a quiet but deep voice spoke.

"You shouldn't have come here tonight."

Misty blinked, startled. The man was almost invisible he stood so still. His clothes were as black as the night and a hood kept his features out of view. Her hand surreptitiously slid to the handgun that was holstered to her thigh, hidden beneath her coat.

"You told me to meet you here," she said softly. "I have the money you asked for."

There was a click that echoed in the silence that followed. "Hand away from that firearm, if you please."

Her heart started to pound as she glanced up, where another hooded figure, this one in a deep, midnight blue cloak, stood on the edge of the roof, pistol pointed steadily at her. She moved her hand.

"I didn't tell you anything," the man in the alley said, walking forward. "He did."

At first Misty thought he meant the man with the gun, but he stopped next to a dumpster and kicked something. As she looked closer she realized it was a booted foot that was, hopefully, attached to a body she couldn't see, and she had to stifle an audible reaction.

"What did you do to him?" she demanded, hiding her fear.

"The question is," the man said, leaning down and dragging the limp body up by his jacket, then tossing him toward her. "Is what would he have done to you?" The body landed on his back a meter or so from her feet. On his shirt was deep red R. She did gasp this time, taking a step back.

"He had orders to kill you," the man told her.

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"I'll tell you this once," he continued, without answering her. "And you'd do well to heed my advice. _No one _has access to pokemon besides members of Team Rocket. If anyone claims to be able to sell you pokemon, they are Rockets who are trying to draw out rebels in order to dispose of them quickly and quietly in back alleys."

She stared at him. "Just who are you?"

He didn't answer, squatting down and pulling several pokeballs from the Rocket's waist. When he straightened, he tossed them to her, and she caught them on reflex, blinking in surprise.

"Don't do anything stupid like this again," he said. "We won't be here to save you next time."

He then leapt on top of the dumpster and jumped again, gripping the ledge of the roof and hoisting himself up with apparent ease to stand next to the man in the cloak, who's gun was still trained on her.

"And get out of here before he wakes up," the man in black said, nodding his hooded head towards the Rocket on the ground. She glanced down at the Rocket, surprised to see he was still breathing and simply unconscious. When she looked back up, both hooded men were gone.

* * *

"Are you out of your mind!"

Misty had been fairly certain Brock would react this way.

"I got us pokemon, didn't I?" she responded stubbornly.

"That was a rhetorical question. Because no one in their right mind would think what you did tonight was a good idea," Brock said.

"She did get us some pokemon," a deep voice piped up, and Brock and Misty looked down the table at the large blonde man who had spoken.

"Thank you, Surge," Misty said, looking smugly back at Brock.

"Still," spoke the older man next to Surge. "You could have been killed."

It was Brock's turn to look smug. "Thank you, Blaine."

"I wasn't though," Misty protested.

"You would have been if it weren't for those two men," Brock said.

Misty looked to the other people at the table for some support. Only Koga and Erika hadn't spoken.

"Brock is right," Koga finally said. "We could use pokemon, but not at the price of your life. At the very least you should not have gone alone. It was a foolish decision."

Misty's face heated up at the chastising and she crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at the table.

"At any rate," Blaine said. "There's still the matter of who those men were. You didn't see what they looked like?"

"No," Misty replied, still not looking up. "I couldn't make out anything about them."

"And they said nothing of their allegiance?" Koga asked.

"Well, they can't be loyal to Team Rocket if they're knocking out agents and spoiling assassinations," Erika finally said. "Maybe they're rebels too."

Brock shook his head. "If that were the case they would have at least tried to make contact with us through Misty. After all, everyday citizens aren't out past curfew trying to buy illegal pokemon."

"Some people just prefer to remain neutral civilians, they don't have to be Rockets or Rebels," Koga pointed out.

"Civilians don't carry guns, and neutrals wouldn't be knocking out anyone if they didn't want to get involved," said Surge. "There was a reason for what they did tonight, though I'll be damned if I know what it is."

"If we knew what it was, we wouldn't be sitting here discussing it," Misty said, tired of this conversation. "If that's all, I'm going to bed." She stood, and no one called her back, so she left the meeting room and disappeared down the hall.

She stalked through the dark hallways of the abandoned Pewter gym. Like all the gyms, it had been forced closed after Giovanni disbanded the Pokemon League. But Misty, Brock, and all of the other gym leaders (save for Sabrina, whom no one had seen since Giovanni had banned all civilians from possessing pokemon) came together in the hopes of raising forces to fight against Team Rocket and had ended up creating a home base of sorts in the unused gym.

"Misty, wait," a female voice called, but she didn't slow down, and the person following her had to jog to catch up, boots with a thick high heel clacking on the floor.

There was a moment of silence before Misty spoke. "Thanks for sticking up for me back there, Erika," she said, shooting a glare at the woman.

"Brock was right, Misty. That was extremely dangerous. It was bad enough you were out past curfew—"

"You're the one who helped me find the contact in the _first place_," Misty hissed.

"I know!" Erika exclaimed softly. "But I didn't know you were going to sneak out and go alone! Gods, Misty you could have been killed."

"But I wasn't," she said in exasperation, stopping and opening the door to her room. "No one seems to notice the fact that I brought us _six _pokemon. That's one for each of us. Not to mention the information that that man gave me." She pulled off her coat, tossing it over the back of a desk chair before flopping onto her bed on her back, staring up at the ceiling.

"What information?" Erika asked, taking a seat on her bed with much more grace.

"What he said about 'If anyone claims to be able to sell you pokemon, they're Rockets who are trying to draw out rebels.'" Misty sat up and turned to Erika, drawing her legs under her. They almost looked like girls gossiping at a sleepover. "Don't you see? Now that we know that, we have an advantage. We can set up more exchanges, except this time a couple of us could go. We'd take them by surprise and steal their pokemon, just like tonight."

"Are you out of your mind?" Erika asked, repeating Brock's earlier words. "How do you know he was alone? What if he had a partner somewhere that those two guys disposed of before you got there?"

Misty sighed, clearly not having thought of that. They were quiet for a moment and she pulled her long hair over her shoulder, sliding off the band and using her fingers to unravel the braid.

"Erika, we need pokemon. We could have the biggest force of rebels in the world, but without pokemon any battle we start will end in our slaughter."

"I know," Erika said slowly. "I've been thinking. Maybe there's a way to get not only pokemon, but a few more allies on our side as well."

* * *

"That was so stupid," a cloaked figure muttered as he jumped from roof to roof, his companion keeping pace with him. "He's probably had Musashi and Kojiro on our tail since we left H.Q. You do know that was a trap to see what you would do, Satoshi? Of course you do, because I've been saying that to you this entire time."

The man in black didn't reply, long coat flailing out behind him as he moved from building to building. He was either concentrating on jumping or ignoring him. It was more likely the latter.

"If he finds out about this you do know what will happen right?" the man in the cloak continued. "Of course you do. Because I've _been saying that to you this entire time_."

"He's not going to find out," Satoshi finally said, not even pausing when he landed on the next roof, running and leaping off.

"And how do you know that for sure? Like I said, those two have probably been following us since this afternoon."

"Musashi and Kojiro aren't following us."

"_How do you know_?"

"I told them not to," Satoshi responded simply.

"And you think they actually listened?"

They'd finally reached the outskirts of the city and pulled to a stop on the last building. The roofs had been getting progressively lower, and this last one was only two stories up. They leapt down easily, landing on their feet, the folds of their cloak and coat, respectively, billowing behind them.

Satoshi turned to his companion, and a hint of a grin could be seen within the shadows of his hood. He pushed it back, revealing a young man's face, twenty-five at the oldest, with long black hair. Now that they were out of the city, the risk of being caught on camera was gone.

"Why do you think Pikachu wasn't with us tonight?" he asked. "I'm not stupid, Shigeru, I know what a risk this was."

Shigeru also pushed his hood down, spiky auburn hair blown about lightly by the wind. "I know, I know. You just couldn't let her get killed. Blah blah blah." He looked exasperated. "Your hero complex is going to get _us_ killed one day, Ash."

The raven-haired man glared at him then turned, heading up the dark road. They would be back at headquarters by morning, and, hopefully, no one would even have noticed they were gone.

"I do not have a hero complex. And you didn't have to come."

"Of course I had to come. I couldn't just let you run off and get yourself into trouble." He grinned at him. "You know you're no good without me watching your back."

Ash rolled his eyes. "It amazes me, Gary, that your ego only seems to have grown in size in the past decade." They veered off the road and among the trees, trudging through foliage to where they had stashed their bikes earlier.

"I don't know why that would amaze you," Gary said as he swung his leg over his bike. "You knew me as a kid."

"Yes, and you had that brief moment in time where you seemed to be starting to grow up," Ash said, though the smirk on his face gave away that he was only teasing. Neither he nor Gary bothered with helmets.

"I know. Weird, huh?"

The bikes roared to life as they kick-started them, startling a flock of nearby pidgey that took off into the night. They steered around the trees at a quick pace, then made it to the road. They took off at extremely high speeds, coats and hair whipping behind them as they raced down the dark and empty roads.

* * *

Team Rocket operated out of Viridian City. Giovanni had moved back there a few years earlier, adding onto his gym with the money he had made trafficking stolen pokemon and all kinds of other illicit things. The gym was huge now, a virtual palace, with entire wings that not even Ash and Gary had been in.

Ash swiped into the weapons lab with his ID card. "Pikachu," he said, keen brown eyes sweeping around the lab and taking in the scene in front of him. His little yellow pokemon was sitting on a table, cheeks sparking as a red haired woman and a blue haired man clung fearfully to one another.

"Pikapi!" a cute little voice said after hearing the voice of his trainer. He stopped calling upon his electricity and leapt off the table and onto Ash's shoulder.

"Hey, Pikachu," Ash said, happy to see his pokemon. "Did you have fun playing with Jessie and James?"

"Aren't you two just adorable!" came a voice from behind them. Gary was leaning against the doorframe, grinning at Jessie and James as they hurriedly extracted themselves from one another. "Musashi, when's the wedding?"

"Oh, shut up!" the red headed woman snapped. She turned on Ash, eyes blazing. "Satoshi! Just what the hell did you think you were doing, leaving that electric rat in here?"

"I have to pee!" James cried, running past them and nearly shoving Gary over on his way out the door.

"He wouldn't let us out," Jessie continued as if James hadn't just fled the room near tears.

"Sorry, Jessie," Ash said, managing to look sheepish. "You know he has a mind of his own."

"Yeah right," she muttered. "Just get out of here and take that devil rat with you."

"Chu," Pikachu said, and though only Ash could understand him, his tone was so indignant that even Jessie knew she'd offended him.

* * *

"_This is your dream, is it not? Win the Pokemon League? Be recognized as the top trainer? You can. Just do it for me. If you don't – well, you've seen what I can do."_

Loud rapping on his door jerked Ash out of a sound sleep. He sat up, instantly alert. He'd not made it into bed until almost five that morning. A glance at the clock on his nightstand told him it was one in the next afternoon. There was another knock and he stood, padding over to the door in nothing but a loose fitting pair of sweatpants.

He hit the release on his door and it slid open with a soft "whoosh," revealing a brown haired man nearly the same age as Ash.

"Still sleeping in the middle of the afternoon, Ash?" he said, amused. "Must be nice to be the number one agent."

"What's up, Richie?" Ash asked, disappearing back into his room in search of a shirt, but leaving the door open for his friend.

"Giovanni wants to see you and Shigeru," Richie said as he entered his room.

"He's got you playing messenger boy, huh?" Ash tugged a plain white t-shirt on.

Richie shrugged, grinning at him. "Some people get summoned, others do the summoning, and still others tell the summoned that the summoner has summoned them."

Ash laughed. "How's Sparky? Pikachu's been itching for a good battle."

It was Richie's turn to laugh. "At his level, Pikachu is going to have to challenge Mew to get any sort of competition."

Said pokemon, who was still snuggled up on Ash's bed, let out a pleased, "Chaaa" at the compliment.

"Coming, Pikachu?" Ash asked as he pulled on his boots.

Pikachu just burrowed beneath the comforter, shaking his head with a, "Pika."

Ash snorted. "Lazy. All right you stay here. I'll be back later and we'll go get some food."

He and Richie left the room, the door shutting behind them.

"So how have you been, Richie?" Ash asked as they walked down the bright hallway. Most of the gym was made with expensive white marble, and their boots echoed off of the floor with each step.

"As good as I can be," Richie replied. He cast Ash a sidelong glance. "How about you?"

"Dead to the world," Ash responded flatly.

"Ash—"

"Satoshi!" another voice called from down the hall, interrupting anything Richie might have said. Gary sauntered toward them. "I hear the boss wants us." He grinned at Richie. "Hey, Hiroshi."

"Shigeru," Richie returned with a nod. "I should get going."

"See you, Richie," Ash said.

"Bye, Ash. Shigeru." With that he turned and headed back in the direction they had come from.

"Something I said?" Gary asked.

"Something _I _said," Ash corrected.

The only way to get to Giovanni's personal floor in headquarters was to swipe an ID card once in the elevator. It only allowed up those who had been summoned. When it arrived at their floor, Ash and Gary stepped into the large mirrored elevator. Ash pressed the button and the familiar female voice spoke up.

"Please scan ID card now." Ash did, and she continued. "Agent Asher Ketchum. Codename: Satoshi." The elevator started to move.

Gary snickered.

"Again?" Ash asked, sounding exasperated.

"Asher," Gary said, shaking his head with a laugh.

"Gary, you do this every time. It's been _years_, it's not that funny."

"Oh, I beg to differ, _Asher._"

"There are worse names than Asher," Ash said as the elevator dinged.

"Name one."

"Butch."

Gary snorted back a laugh. "Fair enough." The doors slid open to an area of the gym that looked totally different from the rest. Even in mid-afternoon it was dark, for there was not a single window on the entire floor, and instead of the pristine white from downstairs, everything up here was a glistening black marble.

Across from the elevator was an elaborate mural of a Persian made entirely from precious jewels – rubies as the jewel on its head, sapphires for the eyes.

Gary and Ash had been to this floor so many times before that they barely noticed any of it. They were both wondering if this summons had something to do with the previous night. Neither of them voiced this concern however, because Giovanni had bugs all over headquarters. No one said anything they didn't want heard.

There was a long, dim hallway that led to Giovanni's office. They always passed several closed doors, but neither of them had any idea where they might lead.

At the end of the hall was a set of double doors, tall and black, each with an R as tall as Ash and Gary carved into them. Gary knocked and then the two waited.

It was several moments before the doors opened and a woman in a white lab coat, purplish hair pinned up, exited the office.

"Satoshi. Shigeru. What a pleasant surprise." Her pretty face had twisted into a sneer, belying the words.

"Ivy," Gary said, with a similar look on his own face. Ash simply glared at her.

A deep voice from within the office cut off any further words between them. "Satoshi. Shigeru."

Ivy didn't bother to stick around and chat, instead brushing past the two and down the hall.

Ash and Gary entered the office, closing the doors behind them. The room was huge and lavish, just like most everything on this floor. Privately, Ash thought that Giovanni was compensating for something. There were statues and portraits around, some of Giovanni, others of his Persian, and it was dark and somewhat gloomy, just like the rest of the floor.

"Sit." A muscular man, face cast in shadow, sat behind a large oak desk, thick fingers folded comfortably upon it. Ash and Gary moved further into the room, each taking a seat in chairs in front of him.

A large persian leapt gracefully onto the desk, hardly making a noise as it landed. The cat pokemon stretched once before lying down, baring sharp teeth as it yawned lazily. Giovanni scratched between the persian's ears, avoiding the ruby red charm that adorned the cat's forehead. The pokemon purred contentedly and flicked his tail.

"I have an assignment for the two of you," Giovanni stated, attention still on his pokemon. "I hadn't intended to use your considerable talents on this particular issue, but certain circumstances have forced my hand."

Gary and Ash remained silent, having learned long ago that the pauses in Giovanni's speech were simply for dramatic affect, not to invite questions.

"There is a rebellion forming." The man laughed humorlessly. "There's always a rebellion forming. This one, however…" He finally turned his gaze to them. "This one has managed to get its hands on several pokemon. Several of _my _pokemon." Dark, narrowed eyes fixed themselves directly on Ash. "It's a number of gym leaders. Some of whom, if I recall, you're quite familiar with, Satoshi. It's time, I feel, for you to… resurrect, so to speak."

Ash's eyes widened, and even Gary looked stricken.

"No," Ash said with a sharp shake of his head. "We had a deal."

"And I kept my end of the bargain," Giovanni said silkily. "Everyone thought you were killed. No one knows what a traitor you really are. Your part of our deal, however, is still being paid off. Which means you go on the missions I assign." He returned to petting his persian. "You're to reacquaint yourself with them. Make them trust you and get all information on their operation. I want to know just what they're planning."

Ash had gone pale, shaking visibly with anger.

"Sir," Gary piped up. "You don't need him. I knew them too; I can handle this on my own."

Giovanni's gaze slid to Gary. "No. You didn't know them like Satoshi did. They won't trust you like they will trust him. You'll go together. You leave tomorrow. I suggest you spend the time inventing a believable lie about just where you've been for the past nine years. Dismissed."

Gary stood, but Ash remained where he was, glaring darkly at Giovanni. His hands clutched the arms of his chair, knuckles turning white. Giovanni met his gaze evenly. After a moment, Ash abruptly stood, turning on his heel and stalking towards the door.

"Oh, and Satoshi, Shigeru," Giovanni said before they could leave. "When you find out all there is to know, I want you to kill them all."

* * *

_A/N: If this seems familiar to anyone, it's because this is a rewrite of another fic of mine, Change of Heart. I was rereading it and realized that while I liked the story, it really could use a massive revision. So this fic has a similar plot, and similar characters, but it will be quite different, as I intend to flesh out some things I ignored in the other fic, and certain plot points have been totally changed. _

_Hope you all enjoy!_

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon and am making no money from this.


	2. Chapter 2

"He knows." Gary said over the roar of Ash's charizard. His magmar dodged a slash attack, aiming a fire punch at his opponent. "He knows what we did last night." He flicked the cigarette in his fingers before taking a long drag.

The only place in headquarters that had no cameras or bugs was the actual battle area of the gym. With the number of elemental attacks – especially electrical ones – that were used in it, the technology simply didn't last long enough to be worth it. As such, it was the only place to go to hold a conversation that no one wanted Giovanni to hear.

After leaving the man's office Ash had headed directly there, under the pretense of blowing off some steam with a battle.

"He doesn't know," he replied. "He suspects."

Charizard took the fire punch to the stomach, roaring again and pumping his wings until he was in the air, where he released a massive flame thrower at Magmar. Ash and Gary weren't directing their pokemon; they weren't actually battling, just trying to look like they were.

"That's not any better," Gary said, exhaling a cloud of smoke.

Ash was quiet, watching as Magmar staggered after the flamethrower, then returned the favor with one of his own. Gary didn't speak either, realizing how hard this was going to be for Ash.

"Fuck!" Ash suddenly cursed, surprising him. "He's a sadistic bastard. How am I supposed to just reappear all fine and dandy? And I don't care what he says, Gary, I can't kill them. I can't."

Gary sighed, running a hand through his hair. He had no idea what to say. "I know, Ash, but… if we don't…"

"I know!" Ash replied, well aware of the consequences of going against Giovanni. "Gods, I know! I … shit, Gary, what am I supposed to do here?"

Gary didn't respond for a while, eventually dropping his cigarette butt to the floor and snuffing it with his shoe. It was disconcerting to see Ash like this. He hadn't seen him this unsure since they were rookies. "We should go to Pewter." Ash opened his mouth to say something, but Gary cut him off. "No, we'll go, and we'll take as long as possible to collect information. And we'll think of something. Maybe we can convince him that they aren't any threat and there's no need to kill them."

Ash closed his eyes. "All right. We'll go." He pulled out Charizard's pokeball. "Thanks Charizard, that's enough for now." The pokemon stopped mid fire spin, landing down on the ground as Gary's magmar teetered on his feet from the attack. Ash recalled his pokemon, and Gary did the same. "Now we just have to figure out where I've been if I haven't been _dead_ all these years."

* * *

In the old battle arena of the Pewter City Gym a woman back flipped across the large empty floor, long red braid sailing through the air as she moved. Misty had thought that maybe a good night's sleep would help her work off this frustration, but when she woke up just as annoyed as before, she put on a pair of loose fitting pants and a tight sport top and headed here.

Aside from Erika, she'd been avoiding the other rebel members, especially Brock. He of all people should know just why this was so important, but he simply didn't seem to realize why she had had to go get those pokemon two days earlier.

When she reached the corner of the gym she didn't even pause for breath before taking a running start and spinning into a cartwheel, followed by a round off and finished with a back handspring.

Misty had learned gymnastics when she was young. Since she was the least graceful of the family, they'd decided to put her into ballet, but she managed to convince her parents that gymnastics was a suitable alternative. She'd stopped around the age of ten, a few years before she left home. But when she returned to take over the gym after her sisters had run it into debt, she took the sport up again, and since then had gotten quite good at it.

It was, she found, a good way to vent some irritation, spinning through the air wildly, yet still having complete control.

Misty landed, panting, and was surprised to hear clapping. Brock stood at the edge of the arena, and she let out a sardonic little noise before wiping her sweaty brow with her arm and walking over to where she had set her bottle of water.

"It still amazes me every time you do that," Brock said, walking over to her.

She didn't respond right away, taking a long drink of water. "Need something?"

He sighed. "Look, Misty, I know you're mad about the other night, but you have to understand, I'm just worried about you."

"We needed pokemon, I got us some pokemon." Misty bent down and picked up the small towel she'd brought with her, drying herself off. "I don't regret what I did, Brock, I don't care what you say."

"I know that. That's what worries me." He ran a frustrated hand through his short brown hair. "Misty, I understand why you want to destroy them. I do. I want to kill all of those bastards, Giovanni especially, for what he's done. But getting yourself killed in the process isn't going to do anyone any good. And… you know that's not what he would have wanted."

Her blue eyes snapped to him, gaze icy. "It doesn't matter what he would have wanted, though, does it? Because we'll never really know what he would have wanted."

She turned on her heel and stalked out of the gym, intending to go get a nice long shower.

"I thought all the old gyms were abandoned?"

Misty stopped dead as the whisper reached her ears. She turned to see Brock following her, mouth open as if to say something else, and made a gesture for him to be quiet. He too stopped and they both could hear the whispered response.

"Me too." It was two males.

They were just around the corner – that much Misty could tell. Brock reached down to the holster at his hip, putting a finger to his lips and drawing his gun. He slowly and silently made his way closer, back against the wall.

"Well, somebody's set up shop in this one. Let's get the hell out before they realize we're here."

"Too late," Brock said, swiftly turning the corner and aiming his gun at the two men. One had auburn hair and looked quite surprised. The other had the hood of a shabby brown traveling cloak up, shadowing his features. A wooden bo staff was strapped to his back.

Both of them put their hands up and the one who wasn't hooded muttered a soft, "Shit."

Misty, seeing Brock seemed to have the situation under control came to stand by his side, looking at the two curiously. They were both dressed in ratty cargos and t-shirts, and looked like they spent much time on the road.

"Who are you?" Brock asked.

"Who are _you_?" the auburn haired man returned, lifting his chin defiantly. That changed quickly when Brock removed the safety on his weapon. The stranger took a step back.

The hooded one spoke. "I apologize," he said. "We didn't mean any harm. We were just looking for a place to spend a few days. We didn't know anyone was still living here."

Misty looked at the hooded one, an odd sensation of recognition entering her.

"What's going on here?" a deep voice asked from behind the two intruders. Lt. Surge stomped his way toward them.

"Found these two wandering around," Brock responded, still not taking his gun off of them. In times like these there was no one who could be trusted.

"Take off your hood," Misty suddenly said, staring at the stranger.

The mouthy one spoke up. "Why should he?" There was something else there though besides arrogance. Concern? For his friend?

"Because she told him to," Surge said, crossing large, muscular arms over his chest.

"I'd prefer not to," the other intruder said softly to Misty and when he looked in her direction she caught a glimpse of sad brown eyes.

"Take it off," she repeated, heart pounding suddenly without really knowing why.

He simply shook his head and Surge, tired of the insubordination, reached forward and grabbed him, holding him by the arms.

"Hey, don't touch him!" the auburn haired man said, moving as if to try and hit Surge, but Brock took a step forward, reminding him he was still holding a gun and he stilled once more.

"Don't hurt him," Misty said as the hooded one struggled, but Surge simply held him with one huge arm and used the other to yank his hood down.

It was a young man, probably the same age as his friend with dark black hair. He stopped struggling when he'd been revealed and Brock lowered his gun, jaw hanging open in surprise.

Misty took a shaky step forward. "Ash?" she said softly. His brown eyes met hers and he didn't say anything.

"Shit," his friend muttered again.

Surge let go of Ash and took a surprised step back.

"Hey, Misty," Ash said, running a nervous hand through his hair.

* * *

Gary couldn't believe this had worked. Not that he doubted his or Ash's abilities, they were top ranked for a reason, but still, this particular assignment had all kinds of complications due to histories and the simple fact that Ash Ketchum was supposed to be dead.

Ash, despite his earlier reluctance, had played his part quite well, though Gary wondered if that was because he didn't want the people who had once been his best friends to know just what he'd become in the years they had been apart.

Giovanni, as much as Gary hated to admit it, had been right. Ash had given the rebels their phony story about how Giovanni had tried to kill him. How he'd barely managed to escape Indigo Plateau, and had been on the run ever since, hiding from Team Rocket. They added that Ash and Gary had run into one another years ago, and had traveled together since, and not a single person thought to question him. They completely trusted him.

Gary pulled off the crappy traveling cloak he was wearing and tossed it on the floor. He and Ash weren't stupid, and to go along with their story they'd "borrowed" some worn clothes from a couple travelers they'd encountered on the road from Viridian to Pewter. They'd left them with their own nice things, however, including his favorite dark blue cloak, so Gary didn't feel too bad about leaving them both unconscious.

"So how exactly do we do this?" Gary asked, glancing at his partner.

Ash was lying on his back on his bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling. He'd been that way since Brock and Misty had shown them to their room after explaining they would have to share since it was the only bedroom not in use. It had once been the room of two of Brock's siblings and it was a decent size with two twin beds.

"Do what?" Ash asked, not looking at him.

"Pretend to be normal everyday people," Gary said, turning his back to him and shoving his duffel bag underneath his bed.

Ash sighed, turning his head to look at his partner. "Maybe start by not walking around obviously armed." Now that Gary had taken his cloak off, the two black Berettas holstered at the small of his back were clearly visible.

"Says the man who entered the building with a bo in plain sight," Gary retorted.

"Well it's not like I can just fold it up," Ash replied, sitting up. "And I don't plan to walk around the gym carrying it."

"Well I don't plan to walk around unarmed," Gary replied. If the rebels somehow found out who they were things could go sour quickly. "It's bad enough we had to stash our pokemon with our bikes."

They knew that if the rebels had searched them when they first arrived and found them with pokemon, it would be pretty damn obvious just where they had really been for the past years, so they had left their pokeballs with their bikes in the woods outside of the city, guarded by Pikachu. Gary would be sneaking out later that night to retrieve them, since his absence was more likely to go unnoticed than Ash's would be.

"I'm not saying go around unarmed," Ash replied. "I'm saying go around a little less conspicuously armed."

Gary grabbed the baggy sweatshirt he'd unpacked and tugged it on. It hung loosely and covered the two pistols from view. "Better?" he asked, pushing the hood down.

Ash rolled his eyes, but his lips tilted in amusement. "Do you think they'll tell us anything?" he asked. "Nothing about a rebellion's been mentioned yet. Maybe there isn't one."

"We've been here for less than a day," Gary pointed out. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one. "And I think they were all too busy freaking out about you being alive. If there's anything to know I get the feeling they'll tell you."

"Funny how much I wish that wasn't the truth."

* * *

There hadn't been time for Misty to talk to Ash alone. After he'd been revealed they had all moved to the conference room, where the rebel leaders had launched into questions about where he'd been and why no one had known he was still alive. He was much quieter than Misty remembered; he seemed tired and worn down. She supposed years of running from the man who controlled nearly everything would be exhausting.

It surprised her, though, that he'd run in the first place. The Ash she'd known had always stood his ground and fought. That was why she was so certain he'd died in the siege of Indigo Plateau.

Misty walked quietly through the dark hallways of the gym, heading toward the room that Ash and Gary were sharing. She was almost as surprised to learn who Ash's companion was as she was to learn Ash was still alive. The last time she had seen Gary Oak was almost a decade ago, in the Pokemon League Tournament where Ash had finally achieved his dream of becoming a Pokemon Master.

It had come down to the two of them actually, and had been one of the fiercest battles Misty had ever witnessed. In the end though, after an amazing fight between Pikachu and Umbreon, Ash had become the youngest Pokemon Master ever at the age of sixteen.

Arriving at their door, Misty paused, suddenly unsure. It had been so long, and both she and Ash seemed to be different people. What if they couldn't talk the way they used to? She'd left after all, and aside from a short moment with him after the tournament, they hadn't actually had a conversation since they were thirteen.

She took a deep breath and knocked.

After a moment, the door opened, and there he was, in cargos and a fresh t-shirt. He wore his hair longer now than he used to, and it hung in his face until he brushed it from his eyes. He smiled down at her, and Misty realized for the first time that he had finally surpassed her in height. "Hey, Misty," he said. "What's up?"

It was like nothing had changed, and she couldn't help the relief she felt. "Nothing, I just… wanted to make sure you two had everything you need. Where's Gary?" she asked, peering past Ash and noticing that he wasn't in the room.

"He said he wanted to wander the gym," Ash told her. "But yes, we're fine, thanks for asking."

"I'm glad," Misty said, pulling her braid over her shoulder and toying with the end of it. She hesitated then continued. "Would you like to go for a walk or something? Catch up?"

Ash smiled at her again, and her stomach did that once familiar jump that it used to every time he even looked at her.

"Sure," he said, stepping out of the room. He was barefoot and didn't bother with shoes. "Lead the way."

Misty couldn't help but return his smile, and they started to walk down the hall together. "So you and Gary have been traveling together all this time?" she asked.

"Yeah. We generally stay out of cities if we can, or at least stick to abandoned places like the gyms. Too many eyes and camera's to spot us otherwise," he replied.

"Right. It must be hard, Giovanni's not an easy man to hide from."

"You're telling me," Ash said, running his hand through his hair with a soft laugh. They fell quiet for a little while. "So what about you?" he asked. "What have you been doing all these years?"

Misty was didn't respond right away, thinking. "For a few years after Giovanni took over and shut down the gym I worked as waitress in downtown Cerulean. Then Brock came to find me and – well, it's not like I had anything to lose, so I moved to Pewter."

Ash nodded, but Misty couldn't tell what he was thinking. Ash had worn his heart on his sleeve as a kid, and it was disconcerting to see him this unreadable.

"I have to admit," he said. "I was surprised to see you – everyone, here in a place that's supposed to be abandoned."

"We all seemed to find one another," Misty said. "Or Brock found us." She paused. The rebel leaders had had a long talk about telling Gary and Ash about the rebellion once the two had gone to their room. A decision hadn't been reached, despite Misty and Brock's protests that Ash could be trusted and would almost assuredly be willing to help. For now, no one was to say anything about the rebellion to either of them.

She wanted to tell him though, and was barely able to refrain.

"So what do you guys do now?" he asked.

"Whatever we can."

Ash nodded. "I think that's what everyone is doing nowadays."

They made small talk a while longer, walking through most of the gym before Ash said that he should probably be getting to bed.

Misty nodded, slightly disappointed. "I'm surprised we never ran into Gary."

"He doesn't have much of an attention span," Ash said with a shrug. "Probably got bored and went back to the room." He smiled at her. "It was good talking to you, Misty."

"I've missed you, Ash," Misty replied, unable to help herself.

He was quiet a moment, still wearing that expression that she simply could not read. "I've missed you too. Sleep well."

He turned and headed back to his room, and Misty watched him go, heart speeding up. He'd missed her.

* * *

Three days had passed without a single uttering about a rebellion and Ash was beginning to allow himself to hope that they didn't trust him and wouldn't tell them a thing. And then Misty walked up to them while he and Gary were eating in the kitchen.

"Ash, Gary, would you mind coming with me? We have something we need to talk to you two about."

They exchanged a glance and followed her, leaving their lunches behind.

Ash's heart sank as she led them into a room they'd never been in before. It was decorated like a small library or office - bookshelves lining the walls, full of different hardbacks, and a desk in the center. There was a door to the side that could have been a closet.

"What we're going to tell you could get us all killed should Team Rocket find out about it," she said when the door was closed behind them.

"We?" Gary said, looking pointedly around the room, which was empty save for the three of them.

"Misty, what's going on?" Ash asked, playing his part of the clueless old friend.

Misty didn't answer, instead simply smiling at them both and walking over to the other door. She pulled it open.

The two of them moved closer and peered in and were silent for a moment.

"Ash, we must carefully guard this secret," Gary said. "If Team Rocket were to learn that there was a _closet_ hidden right here in the old Pewter gym, they'll hunt us down for sure."

"Funny," Misty deadpanned. She crouched down and pulled up a trap door that Ash had already noticed, thought it had blended into the floor quite well. Beneath the door was a concrete tunnel that led straight down, metal bars embedded in the wall to act as a ladder.

"Misty…" Ash said, sounding unsure.

"It's all right," she said. "The others are already down there."

Gary shrugged and climbed in, and Ash followed, Misty entering after him and closing the door behind her. Fluorescent lighting kept the tunnel from being engulfed in darkness. They made the long climb down in silence.

They emerged in a large concrete room that appeared to have once been a bomb shelter. True to Misty's word the rest of the rebel leaders were already there, sitting around a rectangular wooden table. The fluorescent lighting gave everything from the people to the surprising amount of advanced computer equipment a harsh overtone.

"Have a seat," Brock said. "And we'll fill you in."

They sat and listened as Brock and the other rebels explained just what exactly their mission was. Start a rebellion, throw Giovanni from power – mostly what they expected to hear. Neither of them, however, had had any idea just how intricate this entire rebellion was. The leaders were all here, based out of Pewter, but the main operation, with several hundred rebels was centered out of the Safari Zone.

It was actually brilliant, Ash realized. The Safari Zone had been pillaged of pokemon years ago. It was a huge empty plain now, and Giovanni hadn't looked at the place since. His forces were concentrated to cities, where he feared the most chance of an uprising could occur.

Even as they spoke, Brock said, several Officer Jennies were heading up the training of the forces.

This was huge. Right under Giovanni's nose an army was training, bigger than the self appointed leader of Kanto had ever imagined, Ash was certain.

"How did you get the money?" Ash asked. Arming hundreds of people discreetly enough not to catch the attention of Team Rocket was not a cheap endeavor.

"Professor Oak is our main backer," Misty replied. "He's had a fortune tucked away – not that that's really any surprise with how successful a researcher he was. At least before everyone outside of Team Rocket was banned from possessing pokemon."

Ash cast a glance at Gary who hadn't spoken since any of this began. If he was surprised to hear his grandfather was involved in the rebellion he certainly didn't show it.

"This is all fine and dandy," Gary said. "But everyone in Team Rocket has pokemon. You can have the best trained army in the world, but weapons will only get you so far."

"We're working on that," Erika said.

"How?" Ash asked.

"The Elite Four," she responded. "They all went into hiding when Giovanni got into power. All of them escaped with their pokemon. If we can find them and convince them to join us…."

"The Elite were the Elite for a reason," Blaine said.

Erika nodded, grinning. "With them on our side…"

"They could actually do it," Ash said later that evening, when he and Gary had returned to their room. He and Pikachu were sitting on the edge of his mattress, watching as Gary got ready for bed. His partner pulled off his sweatshirt, revealing his guns, then slipped off the holster and stuck both of them under his pillow.

"Maybe," was the response. Gary flopped down onto his bed.

"He's got no idea, Gary," Ash said. "They have a whole army. And if they get the Elite to fight with them—"

"The Elite are just like anyone else," Gary replied. "They only have six pokemon each that they could have escaped with, and anything else was confiscated. Which means the rebellion would have a total of twenty four – oh, sorry, thirty if you include the six you gave Misty – pokemon on their side. Elite or not, that's thirty pokemon against hundreds of rockets with six pokemon each. Not to mention Ivy's… things." Gary sighed. "And, I hate to rain on the parade, Ash, but you could beat all four of the Elite on your own."

Ash was silent a long moment, wondering if he dared voice what he was thinking.

"There would be forty two pokemon. If you and I joined them."

Pikachu's ears twitched and he straightened up, paying sudden attention to the conversation.

Gary's head snapped over to stare at him and he sat up. "Do you have any idea what you're saying?" he hissed. "The amount of fucked we would be if we betray him?"

"I'm so sick of this, Gary," Ash replied. "If we joined them, and defeated him, we'd be free. Free from all of it."

"Then what the hell was the point of any of it? If he even _suspected_ we were talking about this—"

"Look at what we've become, Gary. Is this what you wanted to be?" Ash asked.

"Of course not, but it's not like either of us had much of a choice."

"We have one now. We have the chance to do something that we couldn't all those years ago. We can end this, for good. We already know where Bruno is, I'm sure he could help us find the other three."

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed softly, knowing he had to be quiet so none of the rebels heard him.

"And if Giovanni does what he threatened?" Gary snapped. "The whole reason we got sucked into this in the first place?"

Ash sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I… I don't know." He reached over and pet Pikachu before standing and heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Gary asked.

"I just need to think awhile."

Ash exited the room, making sure to close the door behind him so no one would wander by and spot Pikachu. He made his way to the old arena. He'd battled here before, a long time ago, when things were simple and the hardest choice he had to make was which pokemon to use against an opponent.

He stood there for a very long time, eyes closed, almost meditating, but not quite, unable to get his thoughts to stop streaming long enough to clear his mind.

"Ash?"

Turning, he saw Misty behind him, a water bottle in hand and a towel draped over an arm. "Hey, Misty. What are you up to this late?"

"I wanted a workout before bed," she said with a smile, setting down her things. "What about you?"

"Just mulling things over," he replied.

"Oh yeah? About what we told you today?"

"Yeah."

She was quiet a moment, clearly trying to get an idea of what he was thinking. Finally she seemed to give up and just ask, "Are you going to join us?"

"I… don't know," he said, and the unsure tone to his voice was, for once, not faked.

"You don't?" she repeated, sounding a bit surprised. She had the right to be, he reasoned. Once upon a time he wouldn't have thought twice.

"It's complicated," he said, then realized he needed to stick with his lie or risk suspicion. "Staying in one place for too long is dangerous. And it would be dangerous for all of you."

"Giovanni won't find you. Not if you're with us. And if it's the fighting you're worried about, we can train you. Ash, this is your chance to stop running. We can end this. Please," she said softly. "Don't disappear on us again."

They stared at one another for a long time. "Misty…"

It was the click of a safety that alerted him, though he realized he should have sensed their presence much much sooner. He dove at Misty, pulling her down as a hail of automatic gunfire suddenly erupted in the gym. There was absolutely no cover in the large open arena. He held her close to him and they rolled, the floor they'd been laying on becoming riddled with bullets.

A male voice was suddenly heard over the weapons. "Cease fire!"

Ash had wound up on top of Misty, who was staring up at him with wide blue eyes and he lifted himself up so he was still keeping her from being a target but not crushing her with his weight. Turning his head, he glanced over his shoulder to take in the extent of the situation.

It was five men, big red R's emblazoned across black uniforms, four carrying automatic weapons, while the fifth had a pistol aimed at him. The blonde with the handgun was familiar, a few ranks down from Ash and Gary, but rising fast if he recalled.

"Agent Satoshi, you are under arrest for high treason to Team Rocket," he said.

Ash couldn't help the look of surprise on his face. There was no possible way Giovanni could know about that. He and Gary had only discussed it a few hours before. Misty was staring at him in confusion and he realized it was only a matter of time before she put the pieces of what was being said together.

There was no point in trying to hide it.

"Pardon?" he said.

"Come quietly, sir," the blonde said, recognizing that Ash had been his superior. "We have orders to take you dead or alive."

"And your orders for the rest of the inhabitants of the gym?" Ash asked.

The man hesitated, then answered. "We're to kill everyone and bring you and Agent Shigeru back to headquarters."

"I was afraid you'd say that," Ash responded. If it was simply a matter of turning himself in and leaving the rest of the people here alive, he would have done it.

He looked down at Misty who was staring up at him in horror. She'd figured it out. "You son of a bitch!" she yelled. "You filthy, traitorous, Rocket _scum_!"

"Misty," he said very softly so only she could hear him. "Hate me if you want, but right now you need to do what I say."

"Fuck you!" she responded.

"Listen to me!" Ash hissed quietly. "Everyone in this gym is going to die tonight, _everyone_, unless we stop it. So hate me, fine, and after this is over you can kill me yourself, but right now you need to fucking _do what I say_."

She glared at him, but appeared to be listening.

"Agent Satoshi," the blonde said again. "You need to come with us now."

"When I tell you, you run," Ash said to her, slowly pushing himself to his feet and pulling her up as well. "I'll distract them. Run, find Brock, get the other gym leaders and get the hell out of here."

"There's five of them," she responded just as softly. "How are you going to distract them? With your dead body lying on the floor next to mine?"

"Trust me."

"That's a laugh."

He glared at her and she glared right back.

"Agent Satoshi," the leader said once more, clearly becoming impatient.

"Sorry," Ash said, turning to face them. "Just saying a goodbye." He started walking toward them, making sure Misty was still safely behind him.

In a flash he'd maximized a pokeball and tossed it before the Rockets could react. There was a crack and a large brown rock pokemon announced his presence with a, "Grav."

"Fire!" the blonde said, realizing Ash wouldn't be coming without a fight.

"Graveler, harden!" Ash commanded, grabbing Misty and twisting with her until they were both ducked down behind his pokemon, using him as a shield. Bullets bounced harmlessly from his hard rock skin.

"This is your ingenious distraction?" Misty said, seeming less than impressed.

"Phase one," Ash said, reaching under his pant legs and extracting two mid-sized daggers from sheaths that he'd had strapped to his calves. Her eyes widened. "Just stay here until I tell you. Graveler, earthquake."

Graveler raised two hard fists, and at the same time Ash leapt up from where he'd been crouched, surprising the Rockets, who'd been focused on the pokemon. The fists collided with the floor as Ash was in midair. His boot found purchase on his pokemon's hard back, using that to push himself further into the air as the Rocket's all wavered on the shaking ground. Ash's arms crossed over his chest before he straightened them to each side of him, letting the two daggers fly, one striking a Rocket in the neck, the second slicing easily into the other's chest.

"Graveler, rock throw," Ash commanded calmly as he landed in a crouch on the ground. "Those two." He pointed out the other two Rockets with automatic weapons and sprung to his feet almost immediately, speeding toward the blonde leader. "Misty, go now!"

Misty stood from behind the graveler, eyes widening at the sight of the two dead men with Ash's daggers in them, and watching as one of the other two was taken out by the pokemon's rock throw. The other managed to dodge and threw a pokeball of his own, and with a flash of red light there was a poliwhirl.

"Water gun!" his trainer commanded, and the graveler growled in pain as it was hit.

"Misty!" Ash called as he ducked under a punch thrown by the leader. He'd managed to disarm him fairly quickly, and his pistol had skittered across the floor. "Get out of here!"

She hesitated, then ran for the door. Ash could take care of himself. And even if he couldn't, who cared? He was a Rocket.

* * *

Gary had paused only to grab his pokebelt, and came flying into the hallway at the sound of machine guns, a pistol in each hand pointing steadily into thin air. Bright side: no one there. Dim side: That simply meant they were somewhere else. His arms lowered and he listened, but the gunfire had stopped.

"What the hell was that?" a voice asked, and Gary glanced up the hall to see Brock hurrying down it, Blaine and Erika at his heels.

"Someone just came in here, automatic weapons blazing," Gary responded. He needed to find Ash.

"Gary?" Erika said, sounding unsure. He realized her eyes were on the twin guns in his hands, and supposed that was likely to cause some questions. He'd figure out a lie later, right now he had more important things to worry about.

"Agent Shigeru, please drop your weapons."

Like that.

So fast it was hard to follow the movement, his pistols were trained on the person who had spoken, a woman in her early thirties, a rank or two below him. There were several clicks as three men behind her, dressed in Rocket uniforms, cocked their weapons.

What the hell were they doing here? Ash and Gary hadn't even had a chance to report in yet.

"Please, sir, drop your weapons. We're here for Agent Satoshi."

Being 'here for him' with automatic weapons, did not bode well. "And if I don't?" Gary asked, weapons still steadily trained.

"Sir, Agent Satoshi is wanted for treason to Team Rocket. Mr. Giovanni personally told us that you're not involved," she responded. "If you try to help him, however, our orders for you are the same for him. Dead or alive."

In the distance, gunfire sounded again, and Gary realized it was coming from the gym, probably where Ash was.

"Sir," the woman said. "Mr. Giovanni also asked me to express to you that because your loyalty has not wavered, his deal with you is still intact, despite Satoshi's betrayal."

"You lying Rocket asshole!" came Blaine's voice from behind him, and he heard the click of a safety at his ear.

Gary's grip on his guns tightened as he realized he was on his way up Shit's Creek and heading fast towards a waterfall.

"Put your guns down and get out of here," Brock said, drawing his own weapon and pointing it at Gary.

Gary didn't lower his Berettas, and he kept all his senses alert in case someone went to fire.

"Tell me, sweetheart," he said to the woman Rocket, who appeared to be in charge. "What are your orders for the rest of these people?" She didn't respond, so he continued. "Kill them all?"

She raised an eyebrow, clearly wondering why he would even have to ask.

He set his jaw. How did someone weigh human life? If he put down his weapons his deal with Giovanni would remain unbroken. His grandfather and sister – the entire reason he'd been caught up in this insanity – would be safe.

If he put down his weapons he would be expected to help massacre the people in this gym. People he'd once known, once been friends with. People his partner loved.

If he put down his weapons he would have to give Giovanni the information that he'd learned, and hundreds of unsuspecting rebels in the Safari Zone would be killed.

If he put down his weapons and Ash couldn't make it out of here alone, he'd be responsible for his only friend's death.

His hands shook slightly, but he did not drop his guns. "The three of you, get out of here," he said to the rebels, two of whom were still holding guns on him. "Get out of here now before you all end up dead." In his peripheral vision he saw Brock seem to falter.

"Sir, I'm asking you one more time to drop your weapons," the female Rocket said. "If you don't, we'll make you by force."

Gary didn't move. "Run," he said to the rebels. "Go find the others and get the hell out of this gym."

Brock lowered his gun.

The female Rocket spoke up, looking at Brock. "You all need to stay here."

"So they can kill you," Gary growled. "Go. Now. I'll handle them."

Blaine lowered his gun.

"All of them?" Erika asked.

"Yes," Gary said. "There's only four. Now get the hell out of here."

The female Rocket's eyes narrowed as the three rebel leaders finally turned and ran. "Forget it," she said angrily. "Just kill them all."

Gunfire filled the hall.

* * *

Misty kept running, looking for the others and berating herself for feeling guilty about leaving Ash. He was nothing but a liar.

"Misty!" she heard, and she pulled to a stop, looking down the hall she was passing to see Brock, Erika, and Blaine sprinting toward her. Heavy footfalls caused her to look in the other direction and there were Surge and Koga.

When they all converged both Misty said "Ash is a Rocket!" as Brock simultaneously announced, "Gary is a Rocket!"

"They're spies?" Koga asked.

"So they're behind this attack!" Surge boomed.

"I don't think so," Erika responded. "The Rockets kept saying they were here for 'Satoshi.'"

Misty paused, remembering just what the other Rocket had said to Ash. "That's what they called Ash."

"They kept referring to Gary as sir," Brock said.

"But Gary just saved us," Erika pointed out.

Surge snorted. "Maybe that's just what they want you to think."

"So, which side are they on?" Blaine asked.

Before anyone could answer, Gary came skidding around the corner at the end of the hall where Brock, Erika, and Blaine had appeared from. He'd managed to get back to his and Ash's room and grab his partner's bo staff, which was now strapped to his back. He leaned up against the wall as a hail of bullets flew by.

Glancing down the hallway he caught sight of them all. "When I said get out of here, I didn't mean ten feet away!" he exclaimed.

"Arcanine! Firespin, engulf that whole hall!" called the female Rocket from earlier.

"Oh _shit_," Gary said, pivoting and sprinting down the hall toward them. "Go, go, go, go, go!"

The former gym leaders watched as the hallway behind Gary was suddenly filled with flames. Flames that were speeding toward them quite quickly. They scattered, and Gary took a running dive, fire licking at his boots as he made it to the end of the hall and rolled out of the way. He pushed himself to his feet before his momentum had even fully stopped, pulling a pokeball from the belt hidden beneath his sweatshirt. It opened with a crack and a black fox-like pokemon appeared next to his feet. Long ears with yellow rings around them twitched as he awaited his trainer's command.

"Umbreon," Gary said when the flames had finally stopped. He could hear the sound of heeled boots hitting the floor in a run, which meant the female Rocket was following after them. She was the only one he hadn't been able to kill, he'd underestimated her speed. "Flash."

The pokemon nodded its assent, running and leaping into the hallway, yellow rings on its fur shining as it used the attack, the area lighting up painfully bright, blinding both the Rocket and her pokemon. Using this to his advantage, Gary spun from the cover of the wall and took careful aim. One shot and she went down, and Gary's umbreon used a cut attack on the blinded arcanine, which fell with a howl.

Guns at his sides, he turned to face the rebels. Gary released both of the spent cartridges from his weapons, letting them clatter to the floor. They were staring at him, clearly unsure what to make of him. "You've been in touch with my grandfather, right?" he asked, pulling out two fresh clips.

He looked between them, clicking each cartridge into place with practiced ease as he awaited a response.

"Yes," Erika finally said.

"All that equipment downstairs – it looked like you have a signal scrambler – can you make calls without them being tapped or traced?"

"We can," Brock said, wondering just where this was going.

"Good," Gary said, turning as if to head in that direction.

The bulky frame of Lt. Surge stepped into his way. "If you think we're letting you anywhere near our equipment, you're sorely mistaken."

"There's no time for this," Gary said. "Wake up. By the time this is over, that equipment will be destroyed. This _gym_ will be destroyed. And if you stay here, all of you will be destroyed along with it."

"You could use that computer to get information on the rebellion," Blaine snapped, hand sliding down toward the weapon at his hip, clearly prepared to try and stop Gary should he attempt to continue any further.

"I already have plenty information on it. You all gave it to me." He looked calmly at Blaine. "You don't want to do that."

"Blaine…" Erika began, but was cut off by the sound of crashing glass and gunfire from the direction of the gym's arena.

There wasn't going to be any time, Gary realized. He couldn't let Ash fight them off on his own. He turned to Erika. "You need to get in touch with my grandfather. Tell him to get May and Delia Ketchum and to get out. Get out and get to someplace safe – where your troops are training maybe. Giovanni will be coming for them."

"What do you mean?" Brock said. "How do you know that?"

"Your deal with Giovanni," Erika said, eyes widening in sudden realization. "You… both of you—"

"Let's go, Umbreon," Gary said, turning to leave.

"Not so fast," Surge's deep voice rumbled. The large man remained in Gary's path, arms crossed. "We can't just let you go running off. You're dangerous and you know too much."

"And you're a moron if you think you can stop me," Gary responded evenly.

"Surge," Brock said, sounding unsure. The implications of Erika's words had hit him, and suddenly he realized there might have been far more to this than they originally assumed. No matter what, though, Gary, who stood holding two guns with confident ease, was not someone to take lightly. He glanced at the dead woman, whose blood was slowly pooling around her, staining her blonde hair red.

"We let them go now and Giovanni will know everything about the entire rebellion come morning," Surge responded.

"I don't have time for this," Gary said. "I need to find Ash. Now, move or I'll make you."

The large man didn't budge, however, and Surge and Gary stared one another down, the other rebel leaders watching tensely.

The entire building suddenly shook as if a bomb had gone off, and they all stumbled, Blaine and Erika actually falling to the floor.

"What was that?" Brock asked.

Gary was looking in the direction of the arena, where all the commotion seemed to be coming from. The fact that they had yet to run into any other Rocket's told him that Ash had been keeping quite a lot of them busy. That sudden crash meant one of two things. They'd taken to using explosives, or...

"Big problems," he replied.


	3. Chapter 3

The gym had fast become a battlefield. Pools of blood were forming around the bodies of the Rockets he'd managed to take down with his daggers. He'd managed to recover his weapons after a well-placed roundhouse kick had knocked the blonde leader unconscious.

A quick throw of a blade took out the remaining agent, and Graveler, despite the type disadvantage, managed to knock out the poliwhirl with a vicious rock throw attack.

"Grav?" was the only noise in the entire gym as the pokemon looked at his trainer. Ash stood in silence a moment, removing the blood from the dagger in his hand with a flick of his wrist. He walked over and tugged the other blade from the Rocket's chest.

"There's more coming, Graveler," Ash said to him, straightening and staring at the door, weapon in each hand. He looked at the pokemon. "You up for it?"

"Grav," the pokemon said determinedly.

Ash spun the daggers so the blades were almost parallel to his forearms – it was easier to fight hand to hand that way. He could have picked up one of the guns his assailants had dropped, but he wasn't nearly as good a shot as Gary. Stick with what you know was his motto.

"Alright then," he said. "Rock throw."

His pokemon obeyed just as the first wave of backup came charging through the door, surprised to be met with huge flying chunks of rock. Several were knocked back, but others managed to dodge, and Ash moved quickly to kill or disarm as many as possible.

Blades were certainly deadly when used correctly – and Ash had had plenty of training on how to use them and use them well – but they only did so much against angry Rockets toting submachine guns. Both his daggers were eventually lost when he had to resort to throwing them once more, killing two Rockets whose gunfire he would not have been able to evade.

There was the noise of shattering glass, and Ash spun to see five more Rocket's repelling in through the windows of the gym.

"You best surrender now, Satoshi!" one of them cried, a kid hardly out of his teens. Ash remembered leading him on one of his first missions, when he'd been a nervous little rookie, barely seventeen. Oh how they grew.

There were at least twenty Rockets now. One called out her ninetails and another his arbok, and things became suddenly much more interesting. He reached for another pokeball but the Rockets knew better than to let him. A slew of gunfire flew at him and Ash sprinted toward Graveler, sliding feet first behind him, cutting his arms as they were drug across the torn up floor.

A light hiss was his only warning before the arbok reared up behind him, fangs dripping as it dove to attack.

"Pikachu!" screamed a little voice, and the arbok was hit with a thunder attack. Ash poked his head out from behind Graveler, looking in the direction the attack had come from and smiling at the sight of his little yellow pokemon.

Pikachu had sped into the gym, dodging quickly around the legs of the Rockets, heading towards Ash at full tilt.

"Ninetails! Firespin!"

A huge wave of fire rushed between them, cutting off Pikachu's path.

The attention on Pikachu, however, was enough to give Ash the opportunity to pull out another pokeball and release Blastoise. A quick command and the big turtle began using hydro pump, aiming at the ninetails, who was caught by surprise and shoved across the room by the water attack, crashing into the wall with a pained whimper.

Under Ash's direction, the pokemon then took aim at the Rockets themselves, knocking several of them off their feet. Many of them began slipping on the slick floor, and the gym essentially erupted into chaos.

He recalled Graveler as more and more of the gym became wet, knowing it would only pain the rock pokemon.

"Backup!" Ash heard a Rocket cry into his communicator. "Target will not go down! Repeat, we need backup!"

"Backup?" Ash muttered. How many agents had Giovanni sent? He couldn't see much around the screen of water coming from his pokemon. "Pikachu!" he called over the roars of Blastoise and the rush of water. "Thunder! Aim for the water!"

There was a "Pika!" of agreement, and the room was suddenly lit up as the electric pokemon combined his attack with Blastoise's. Screams filled the room as the Rockets caught in the water were electrocuted.

Both Pikachu and Blastoise stopped their attacks at the same time, and as the water stopped, Ash could better see the damage done. Several Rockets were dead, the rest, fortunately, appeared unconscious.

Pikachu picked his way across the wet floor, leaping to Ash's shoulder.

"Nice job guys," Ash said to both of his pokemon, recalling Blastoise and sloshing over to the Rockets who had been killed earlier with his knives, tugging the blades out of their bodies. "Let's get the hell out of here before backup arrives, Pikachu."

The pokemon 'chaa'd' in agreement and Ash turned to make his way out of the gym and find Gary.

A deep, heavy, rumbling stopped him in his tracks. He turned, slowly, staring at the far wall of the gym. Pikachu's claws dug into his shoulder, ears lowering.

There was flash of movement in the shadows outside, followed by a deafening roar, and then the entire wall burst inward in a shower of glass and concrete. Lights flickered then went out, casting the arena into darkness.

* * *

After Gary's words, the rebels finally snapped into action and realized the full gravity of the situation. Erika volunteered to go contact Professor Oak, and Blaine, Koga, and Lt. Surge decided to go with her, in case more Rockets showed up.

Meanwhile, Misty and Brock elected to go with Gary, who simply told them both not to get in his way before sprinting off down the hall toward the gym.

Running through the doorway, their feet splashed through large puddles of water that hadn't been there when Misty had left. The arena was completely dark, but lit up quite suddenly as they heard Ash rasp out, "Thunder!"

In the illumination of the thunder attack, they could make out the destruction of the gym, as well as a huge hulking figure that looked unlike any pokemon any of them had ever seen.

Misty gasped. "What is that?" she exclaimed. It was almost like a Gyrados, but something was very wrong with it. The scales looked like stone and it had small deformed gray arms sticking out of it. On its face was a sharp but stunted looking horn.

Gary let out a curse, eyes immediately combing the gym for Ash.

The thing roared after the thunder attack, which, Gary knew would have laid any normal pokemon flat. Instead, he could see the shadow of a thick tail raise up and swipe across the floor. Eyes adjusting to the darkness Gary watched as it hit several unmoving bodies, shoving them viciously across the ground, but most appeared to be already unconscious or dead. Gary finally spotted Ash, on one knee and panting heavily with an arm wrapped around his abdomen.

Pikachu's speed allowed him to dodge the tail, easily leaping over it, but Ash, clearly injured, wasn't able to get out of the way. He was hit hard, and his body flew into the nearby wall with a painful crack, sliding down it into a crumpled heap.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried, scampering over to his trainer.

Despite herself, Misty took off toward Ash, nearly slipping on the wet floor as she rushed to his side.

"Misty!" Brock called, as the thing in the shadows moved again, as if to make another attack.

Gary maximized a pokeball and released a large bird pokemon that appeared to be made of steel. "Fury attack, Skarmory, aim for its head!" With a screech of agreement, the bird took flight, using its beak to peck at the head of the giant pokemon. The monster roared in anger and Skarmory provided for enough of a distraction that Gary and Brock were able to follow Misty's path.

"I'm fine," Gary heard Ash mutter to Misty as they came closer. He was pushing himself up slowly, but only made it to his hands and knees.

Pikachu gave a concerned whine.

"We've got to go," Gary said, holstering one of his guns and reaching down to take Ash's arm, yanking the man to his feet unceremoniously.

"Gary!" Misty exclaimed, as Ash gave a pained groan.

He knew his friend was hurt, but Skarmory wasn't going to be able to distract that thing forever, and if they didn't get out of the gym soon, it was possible they never would. They'd both been in similar scenarios before, and Ash had done the same when the situation called for it.

Ash leaned heavily on Gary for a moment, the world spinning as pain shot through his torso. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, and it took Gary a second to realize his friend was apologizing to him.

"Don't," he said. "Not right now."

Ash nodded and called Pikachu to him. The little pokemon stayed at his feet, chattering something that made Ash shake his head.

"Misty, Brock," Gary said, glancing at the two rebels. "Go. Hurry." It would take him a minute to get Ash out of there, and he wanted them out of the way before the thing noticed them again.

They looked at one another, hesitating, and Gary could tell it was because they weren't sure whether to trust them. Probably thought he'd shoot them when their backs were turned.

"Go!" he barked, and they finally moved, making a run for the door.

"Pikachu, go with them," Ash said, figuring they might need some protection if they ran into more Rockets. Pikachu clearly wanted to stay with his trainer, but after a second gave a nod and a determined, "Chu," and raced along behind them.

"So," Gary said to Ash as he started quickly helping him along. "Fun night?"

Ash gave a pained sounding laugh. "Oh definitely," he said.

"Do you know what this one is?" Gary asked, referring to the monster that was lashing back and forth as Gary's pokemon flew just out of its reach. This was not the first time they had seen a creation like this. This was what happened when Giovanni gave Ivy pokemon and some high tech lab equipment.

"Looks like half rock, half water," Ash replied. "I think it was a Gyrados at some point, but Pikachu's attacks barely did anything to it."

Gary knew that was saying something, since he'd seen how strong Pikachu's attacks were, type disadvantage or not.

"We fight it in here the thing will end up crushing us anyway, whether we have pokemon who can take it or not," Ash said.

"Agreed," Gary replied. They weren't far from the door, and if they were lucky any other reinforcements would be staying out of the gym until the monster in the arena was finished its rampage. "There's no shame in a tactical retreat."

"You mean running away like little girls?" Ash retorted wryly.

"Hey, my run is very masculine."

There was an angry sounding roar and screech as the monster in the darkness finally caught Gary's Skarmory in its large angry jaws.

"Oh, fuck," Gary said. "Skarmory!" He pulled out his pokeball and recalled the pokemon before it was crushed.

The arena fell silent as the giant pokemon no longer had anything to bite. Then it gave a deafening roar and its large tail lifted up and dropped so hard the whole building shook. Gary barely managed to keep them both standing.

"I think now might be a good time for that masculine run," Ash said, and Gary gave a grunt of agreement as the two of them started to sprint for the exit, Ash still leaning heavily on him.

"Hurry!" Brock called from where he and Misty stood at the door.

There was a noise of an attack powering up, and Ash knew the sound without having to look. "Hyperbeam."

"Yup," Gary said, gritting his teeth as he saw the attack forming in his peripheral. They were only a few feet from the door when it released the hyperbeam and they both made a dive for it. The blast of energy just barely missed them as they flew through the doorway, bleachers exploding instead of them. They ended up in a heap on the floor, but Gary had maneuvered it so Ash had at least landed on him instead of the other way around. "Ow," he said, as his partner's bo dug into his back. This was why he preferred guns. Easier to carry.

Ash groaned, the fall still having caused him a fair amount of pain. As he untangled himself from Gary he said, "I hate Ivy."

"We need to get out of here," Misty said as Ash and Gary got to their feet. Another roar came from the gym as well as some rumbling. It sounded like it was on the move.

"If that thing starts raging this whole building's gonna come down," Ash said.

"Walk and talk people; let's move," Gary said. He offered Ash his shoulder, but the other man shook his head, arm over his ribcage as they all started down the hall at a run. Pikachu scampered onto Gary's shoulder so he wouldn't accidentally hurt Ash any further. "We're probably surrounded. What are our exit options?" Gary asked as they put some distance between them and the arena.

He and Ash watched Brock and Misty exchange wary looks.

"Hey kids, like it or not, you need us," Gary said. "You're outnumbered and you've only got one pokemon each. So let's put the distrust aside for a few minutes and get the fuck out of here in one piece-" he glanced at Ash, who looked a little pale but was grimly keeping pace with them and amended, "One piece-_ish_."

When a roar followed by another mini-earthquake occurred, Brock finally said, "There's a way out through the shelter downstairs. There's a tunnel that goes underground, far outside of town."

Gary nodded. "Let's go."

"Where are the others?" Ash asked.

"Already down there," Brock said.

They ran in silence, realizing the roars of the mutant pokemon seemed to be getting closer, and the crashes were probably occurring as it burst its way through walls. Finally they made it to the room Misty had led them to earlier – had it really just been that morning? – and opened the trap door.

"Ash, go first," Gary said, but Ash shook his head.

"I'll be slower, you guys go and I'll follow," he said, pulling a pokeball from his belt.

"Don't be a hero right now—" Gary argued, but Ash ignored him, releasing Charizard.

"I'm not; I'm just covering our tracks." Misty and Brock hadn't gone yet, clearly waiting on the outcome of the conversation. "Go, I'm right behind you." They hesitated but Brock seemed to realize time was of the essence and started to climb down the ladder.

Gary looked at him skeptically but followed once Misty went, Pikachu moving to sit on his head. True to his word, Ash was right behind him.

"Charizard," he said. "Firespin."

The pokemon let out a roar and did as he was asked. The room immediately lit up in a blaze, which Ash was hoping would spread out to the rest of the gym. At least then it would take a while for the Rocket's to figure out where they had gone. He recalled Charizard and closed the trap door behind him, slowly making his way down the ladder, ribs protesting the movement.

* * *

"I want to see their bodies."

"Sir?"

Giovanni stared at the image of the young man on his videophone. And stared. Saying nothing. Expression never changing. The young man shifted nervously. He'd been left in charge when the actual mission leaders that Giovanni had assigned had so foolishly gotten themselves killed.

"The gym was destroyed sir," he tried again. "The Gyradon trashed most of it, and then somehow it was set on fire. It's pretty much flattened."

"Did I ask about the state of the gym?" Giovanni said with a calm, even, and somewhat dangerous sounding tone. "I asked for the bodies." The irony did not escape him that he half wished it was Satoshi or Shigeru reporting to him now. They were by far the most competent of his subordinates. And if they weren't dead and rotting, he was going to be extremely displeased.

"I—yes sir. We'll comb the rubble," the Rocket replied.

"Do that." Giovanni hung up on the pathetic boy, and then made an outgoing call.

"Cassidy," was the brusque answer. She was using a mobile communicator so no picture accompanied her voice.

"Status?" was his own terse reply.

"Town's trashed, sir," she said. "We've rounded up the survivors. Should have them any minute now, if they made it."

There was a pause as Giovanni's lips pressed together in a displeased frown. "I believe I said I wanted them alive."

"Those hybrid monsters of Ivy's are damn near uncontrollable, sir," Cassidy said. "We had to recall it before it set all of Pallet on fire."

"Contact me when you find them."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

It was hours before the dark tunnel they were in, lit only by Pikachu, who was using flash from his new spot on Brock's shoulder, gave way into stairs. The group had been quiet the majority of the trek.

When they had climbed down into the safe-room, Blaine and Surge had guns pulled, pointing them at Gary and Ash.

Neither of them was really surprised at that welcome. Surge wanted to kill them, though he was met with resistance from Koga and Erika, who thought that they should just leave them behind, until Blaine pointed out that they knew enough of their plans to ruin everything they'd worked for.

Gary chimed in that whatever they decided they should probably do it quickly or they might as well all just eat bullets here and now.

In the end it was decided, upon suggestion from Misty, that Ash and Gary would come with them, disarmed, of course. That then brought up the question of their pokemon and had almost started another argument, because Blaine wasn't going anywhere while these two traitors had pokemon, and Gary advised them that they could take them off his cold dead body.

Surge had raised his weapon and appeared to be about to oblige him when Ash silently undid his pokebelt and held it out to Brock.

Ash and Gary led the way up the stairs. None of the former gym leaders wanted them out of their sight. Koga had Gary's guns and Erika was holding onto his pokemon, which he'd reluctantly given up after Ash had. Brock had Ash's pokemon, Pikachu included (though everyone there knew that was more of a gesture than anything), and Blaine had his bo strapped to his back and was carrying his daggers.

Surge was right behind Ash and Gary, his gun out, just in case either of them tried anything. Ash, however, didn't have the energy. He was pretty sure he'd broken at least one rib thanks to that hybrid pokemon of Ivy's and the subsequent running and now hours of walking hadn't exactly helped with the pain. He grimaced as they started up the steps, but stayed silent.

He focused on his footsteps, the echoes of their boots on the concrete, the noise of the rebel's breathing, the rustle of clothes. If he didn't, he'd start thinking again and he just couldn't right now. Not when they were underground and miles away from Pallet.

When they'd started their trek, Erika had told Gary that she had managed to contact Professor Oak and deliver his warning. Ash was so relieved to hear it that he almost missed the rest of what she said, but managed to catch the part of how they suddenly lost connection with him. But they had to have been in time. They had to have. Professor Oak would get his mother and Gary's sister and this wouldn't be one more fuck-up of Ash's to stack on top of the rest of his giant pile of failings.

If all of this was for nothing – if he'd failed his mom and Gary – he would gladly just let Surge finish him off.

The light of Pikachu's flash suddenly hit a giant door. It was a thick metal bulkhead that Ash might have expected to see on a ship.

"Go on and open it," Surge said to Gary and Ash.

"Oh so now we're here for your manual labor?" Gary replied, crossing his arms.

"Gary," Ash said, before Surge could angrily respond. "Can you really blame them?"

Gary glanced at Ash, then back at the rebels before sighing and taking hold of the big metal wheel in the middle of the door. Ash moved to help but Gary waved him off, aware he was hurt. It was obvious the door hadn't been used in a very long time, and Gary had almost broken a sweat by the time the wheel started to turn, making a loud noise that sounded like groan as it moved. Using his shoulder, Gary shoved it open and they were able to see the silhouettes of trees and some stars through the thick foliage.

"We can make camp here for the night," Blaine said. They had stored emergency supplies in the safe room, and all of the rebels now had a pack on their backs. Koga shut the door behind them. It was actually extremely well hidden, disguised as part of a giant boulder. Ash might have missed it if he hadn't known it was there.

"You need to keep moving," Ash said with a shake of his head. "They'll find that tunnel soon enough once they realize none of the bodies in the rubble are any of us."

"He's right," Brock agreed. "We need to make our way south as quickly as possible and rendezvous with everyone else." Erika had also managed to get out a message to the Officer Jenny overseeing training of their forces at the Safari Zone before they had had to destroy the computer equipment to avoid the possibility of the Rocket's using it to get information on their operation.

"Well this has been great and everything, but Ash and I have a pressing engagement in Pallet Town," Gary said. "So we'll take our things and be out of your hair." He held out his hand.

"Do we look like idiots?" Surge growled.

Gary looked at Ash then back at the large blonde man. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

Surge began to raise his gun again when Brock said, "You have to see why we can't just let you leave. There's too much on the line here."

"Did you guys all miss the part where they were trying to kill us?" Gary asked. "We're not just going to run back to that – Giovanni wants us dead as much as you, now."

"Dead?" Misty piped up, looking directly at Ash. "Is that what you two were here for?"

"See?" Surge said. "Let's just kill them and be done with it."

"Stop it, Surge," Erika snapped, and, surprisingly, the large man listened.

Misty was still looking at Ash. "Our orders—"

"Ash," Gary interrupted, but his partner just shook his head and continued.

"Our orders were to find out about any rebellion you were planning and then terminate you all once we did," Ash told them truthfully.

Surge didn't look surprised, but the rest seemed to have trouble letting that sink in. Misty and Brock in particular looked a bit stricken.

"I can't believe you would…" Misty said, trailing off, unable to even finish the thought.

"He said our _orders_," Gary pointed out. "Not our intentions."

"What exactly were your intentions then?" Blaine asked.

"Well up until the point where Rockets came in guns hot, this one was talking about betraying Giovanni and joining up with you folks," Gary replied, jerking his thumb at Ash. "Which is probably why we got such a sudden visit." He looked at his partner, "He must have bugged us, somehow."

"We should have checked," Ash agreed. "It was sloppy."

"Is it possible you're still bugged?" Koga asked.

Ash and Gary exchanged looks. Ash sure as hell hoped not, otherwise Giovanni probably already knew about the people in the Safari Zone. Which would likely lead to a slaughter. He was pretty sure they would have noticed a bug on their clothes, though.

"I don't think so, but…" He looked at Gary.

"Oh, no," Gary said, apparently catching the meaning of the look. "Come on. Really?"

Ash just tilted his head and gave a helpless sort of shrug. "Better to be safe."

Gary sighed. "Fine. Do it." He closed his eyes, clearly bracing for something. The former gym leaders looked confused.

"Pikachu," Ash said to the pokemon that was now standing at Brock's feet, right in the middle of their impromptu captors. "Thundershock."

Thinking, for a moment, that Ash was attacking them, the rebels all took steps back, reaching for their weapons.

But when the pokemon released the lightening it was aimed at both his trainer and Gary. This wasn't the first time they'd needed to short out unwanted tech. Ash was so used to getting shocked over the years that his only sign of discomfort was a grimace. Gary, however, staggered a little once the attack was over, until Ash reached out and steadied him. Their hair was sticking up a little more than usual.

"Well, if we were, its short circuited now," Ash told the group, who all looked a bit taken aback.

"Can we please just have our shit now?" Gary said after taking a minute to recover.

"You're really planning to go to Pallet?" Misty said. "You'll have to go by Viridian; it's like walking right into Giovanni's hands."

"Are we forgetting that that's probably what they _want _to do?" Surge said. "They played us from minute one, who's to say that's not what they're still doing?" Blaine and Koga nodded in agreement.

"You're worried about your families," Erika piped up. "But, I told Professor Oak to get to the Safari Zone. I'm sure that's where they'll be. Wouldn't it be better to go there with us?"

"It's too far out of the way," Gary said with a shake of his head. "Especially if you don't intend to go past Viridian and go all the way around instead,"

"You keep talking about it like you have a choice," Surge said.

Ash was silent, thinking this over. "Gary," he said, pulling him aside and speaking in a very low tone so the rest wouldn't hear. "If they're alive, they're headed for the Safari Zone. Or Giovanni already has them. But if he's keeping them it's because he wants leverage on us. Staying out of his grasp means they'll be safe. At least for now. If we get to the Safari Zone and they aren't there we can decide what to do then."

"Or, we could just kick these guys asses, take our stuff, and then make a plan from there."

"I'm a little bit tired for ass kicking right now," Ash admitted. Gary had almost forgotten he'd been injured.

Gary frowned. He didn't like not heading straight for Pallet, but he couldn't deny Ash's points made sense. "Fine." He held up a finger. "But I reserve the right to revisit the ass kicking plan at a later time."

Ash shook his head but couldn't hide a smile. "Fair enough."

* * *

_A/N: What is this? I wrote something? I'm as shocked as you all. I'm starting to get a little more time in my life and that writer's block slowly seems to be fading. (I'm going to do a study on the quantity of free time vs. the quantity of writers block as there seems to be a fascinating correlation.) _

_I've had the first few pages of this on my computer for… well, years. Yes, literal years. _

_I'm hoping this whole updating thing is going to start to become more regular. If you're new to the story, I hope you like it, if you're one of those few people who actually have stuck it out waiting for a new chapter, I hope it was worth it. If it wasn't, well. I don't know what to tell you. Sorry?_


	4. Chapter 4

"This one's mine, Ketchum," sixteen year old Gary Oak told his once rival as they waited to square off in the final battle of the Pokemon League.

"Like I'd lose to you," Ash replied, looking up at him determinedly. Pikachu was sitting on his shoulder, and let out a worried sounding, "Chu."

"Just let me take care of this, Ash," Gary said, voice lowering so that their conversation stayed between the two of them.

"No," he said, shaking his head and causing his bangs to fall in his eyes as he clenched his fists tightly. "When this is over, go back to Pallet and take care of your family." Keep them safe, he wanted to say.

"Or you could do that," Gary replied. "Gramps likes you better anyway."

"That's bull and you know it."

Gary smiled slightly. He did. Though Professor Oak _did_ have a soft spot for Ash, there was no denying that.

The PA system suddenly crackled to life and the cheerful voice of the announcer swept over the arena. "And now, the moment you've all been waiting for! Our final battle to determine who will become the next Pokemon League Champion! Give it up for the final two contenders – Gary Oak and Ash Ketchum!"

They looked at each other, still standing in the tunnel that led to the arena, out of sight of the crowd that had suddenly burst into excited cheers.

"It doesn't matter which one of us it is," Gary said. "Just let me win this one."

"I never throw a battle," Ash replied with a grim shake of his head.

Gary sighed. "Then I guess I'll just have to kick your ass."

Ash held out his hand. "I won't go down easy."

"That I know." Gary took his hand, shaking it with a firm grip.

For two years now they had traveled together. Ash's companions had moved on to tend to other things in their lives, and he had gone home to Pallet for a while to visit his mother and decide his next destination. Gary had been at Professor Oak's when Ash had stopped by to see some of his pokemon. The taller boy had ditched the cheerleaders, convertible, and attitude, and the two of them ended up actually talking civilly instead of sniping at each other. They'd been friends as kids and they had a lot in common. When they put their rivalry behind them it hadn't been hard to pick up where they'd left off. When Ash was ready to continue his journey Gary decided to go with him. They were constantly battling as they traveled, each pushing the other to become a better trainer. They still had a rivalry, but it had turned friendly, not vicious like it had once been.

A month earlier, as they'd walked through the streets of Viridian city, they were surprised by a group of Team Rocket members. They were no Jessie and James, however, and Gary and Ash had easily been overpowered and tossed into the back of a black van. They were brought to the Viridian City gym, and escorted to the highest floor, where Giovanni was waiting for them in his office.

He had a proposition for them. One he thought they'd find hard to refuse. He wanted one of them to win the Pokemon League. He even had an incentive for them. He _wouldn't _torture and kill their families. Wasn't he just a stand up guy?

Giovanni wanted someone with influence under his thumb. Having the next Pokemon League Champion working for him would make his life so much less complicated. The sway that Champions had could bend powerful figures to their will, even change laws. And there were a lot of things, he told them, that he found that he would like to have adjusted.

He didn't care which one of them won, so long as either would be compliant with some of his "miniscule" demands. To emphasize his point he'd shown them both photos of their families; Delia gardening, cooking dinner, doing laundry. Professor Oak working with a pokemon, going food shopping. Gary's sister May walking somewhere. It would be so awful to see something terrible happen to them, Giovanni had said, almost sounding concerned.

"This is your dream, is it not?" he'd asked them in a silky voice. "Win the Pokemon League? Be recognized as the top trainer? You can. Just do it for me."

Never had either of them fought so hard for anything. Their battles in the tournament were fierce and swift, Gary and Ash both emerging as victors to everyone they fought. And when it finally came down to the last battle, even though either one could give up and Giovanni would still get what he wanted, neither was willing to lose.

Both had decided to protect the other from this fate.

Ash wasn't built for this, Gary felt. He was too pure hearted to walk the path of anything but the hero. But Gary could be the villain. And he would do it for Ash, and for his grandfather and sister.

But Ash wouldn't let Gary put himself in that position any more than Gary would let Ash. He would deal with this. It would be his burden to bear, and no one else's.

The battle was long and each trainer was relentless. Years later, long after the Pokemon League had been disbanded by Giovanni after the siege of Indigo, people would still talk about it as the most intense pokemon battle anyone had ever seen.

In the end it was Pikachu, standing, exhausted, as Umbreon teetered and fainted, unable to continue.

"And Ketchum wins it! Ketchum wins!" the announcer yelled.

While the crowd began to cheer in amazement and excitement, Gary and Ash made eye contact, gazing somberly at one another. The happiness one might have expected to accompany a win like that was nowhere to be seen in Ash's expression.

* * *

When they'd finally stopped to rest, the sun had risen and was high over the forest. They had started east, away from Viridian. It was safer to stay off the roads, so they decided they would stick to the forest as much as possible, though Ash knew they were probably going the same general direction as Route Three.

This was going to be a long trip. Avoiding cities and roads meant trudging through thick foliage on foot, and taking routes that would be somewhat out of the way as they gave populous areas a wide berth.

No one argued when Brock spoke up after hours of walking - trying to put plenty of distance between them and the escape tunnel - saying that it was probably safe to set up a small camp and sleep for a while. They were all sweaty and exhausted from being up all night, and Ash had been doing his best to ignore the pain in his ribs, which was just getting worse the longer they walked. There wasn't time to stop and tend to them, though, and he doubted the rebels would be too keen on the idea anyway.

They were still, essentially, captives. Since Ash and Gary decided it wasn't a terrible idea to go to the Safari Zone, the rebels didn't have to try and decide what to do with them yet. So the decision from the former gym leaders was that Ash and Gary would continue as they had been. Disarmed and with their pokemon kept away from them. Surge, however, still hadn't put his gun away.

Ash grimaced as he took a seat on a nearby log while the rebels worked to set up camp. The rebels all had had their emergency packs in the safe room, so they were prepared with sleeping bags and other supplies. Ash and Gary quickly realized they were expected to get comfortable on the ground. Pikachu had hopped off Brock's shoulder and looked like he was going to scamper over to him, but Ash shook his head. The pokemon stayed where he was, though the expression on his little face indicated he wasn't pleased about it. Ash didn't like it either, but it was better if they didn't give the rebels any reason to mistrust them further, and the fact that Pikachu wasn't in a pokeball already had them on edge.

Gary took a seat next to Ash. "All right, let's see it," he said.

Ash knew what he wanted – they had both had to play medic to each other enough times by now. He gingerly pulled his shirt up and Gary winced at the sight of a giant purple bruise on his upper torso, right over his ribs.

"Broken, you think?" Gary asked.

"At least one I'd guess," Ash replied.

"I should have tried to grab our bags," Gary said, shaking his head. "They had all of our first aid shit."

"What are you two doing?" Surge asked, as if he thought they were conspiring something.

"I'm using Ash's injury to communicate with Giovanni," Gary replied sarcastically. He leaned down as if to speak into the bruise. "Hello? Hello, are you there?"

Ash couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped him, despite the fact it sent a sharp pain along his torso.

"Just keep it up," Surge replied. "We'll see who's the last one laughing." He moved further off, but didn't take his eyes off of them.

"I don't think he likes us," Gary commented dryly.

"I can't imagine why," Ash replied, pulling his shirt down. "Just try not to push his buttons too much. I'm pretty sure he'll shoot you if you piss him off enough."

"Yeah he's all tough while we're unarmed, but come on, I doubt he'd be much of a challenge to drop," Gary said.

"We're not dropping any of them, remember?" Ash reminded him.

"Can I at least drop something _on _him?" Gary said with a grin. "I'd even be happy with a rock on his foot."

Ash shook his head with a smile, knowing Gary was just joking around. It was his defense mechanism, as well as something he did when Ash was feeling down.

Misty approached them after a few moments, two things in her hand. "That looked pretty painful," she said, nodding toward Ash's injury.

"It'll heal," Ash said with a shrug.

Misty regarded them both for a moment, and then held out some pills and a bottle of water. "Here," she said. "At least it'll help with the pain."

Ash's expression turned surprised. Misty hadn't said much to him since they'd started this trek, but he was pretty sure she was confused and angry. He couldn't really blame her. At least she hadn't been one of the rebels calling for his death. "Thank you," he said quietly.

She nodded, turning to leave.

"You know what else would help?" Gary said to her. "If we could have our pokemon back."

"Sorry," Misty said with a shake of her head. "We can't take any chances." Ash watched as she walked away, going over to Brock as he worked on making food for them all.

They slept until it was dark again, though the rebels always had someone on watch. Ash had a feeling they were watching him and Gary as much as they were looking out for any external threats. He and Gary worked out their own watches, because they didn't trust a lot of the rebels any more than the rebels trusted them.

When they packed up and started moving again Ash felt a bit better. He'd had some food, some sleep (despite the hard ground, he'd managed to catch some shuteye), and some pain killers. Now if only he could have his weapons and pokemon back, the uneasy feeling that had settled over him would probably be gone.

"How are we planning to get to the Safari Zone?" Gary asked, when, on day three of their trek, they had yet to turn south.

"We're going to go around Cerulean," Brock informed him.

"You shouldn't give them any more information than they need," Blaine advised.

"Around Cerulean?" Gary asked, sounding none too pleased with the plan. "Why don't we just keep going till we hit the coast and swim there while we're at it?"

"We have to avoid the cities," Erika said. "We can't risk the chance of getting spotted on camera. It's a bit out of the way but it'll be safer in the long run."

"The longer we're out here on foot the longer Team Rocket has to track us," Gary said, and Ash knew who he was thinking about. "We should get there as quick as we can."

That concern was shot down by the rebel leaders, however, and it was determined that they would continue the way they originally planned. Gary was going to keep arguing, but Ash put a hand on his arm and gave a small shake of his head and he fell silent.

When they camped for the night, Ash quietly said to him, "You know where that route will take us, right?"

"Way out of the fucking way?" Gary snapped at him. Ash raised his eyebrows and he sighed. "Sorry. I need a cigarette."

Ash smiled a little. "Withdrawal, huh?"

"That's an understatement."

"It'll take us right past Rock Tunnel," Ash said.

Gary paused, realizing Ash was right. "Do you actually want to help these jerks?" he asked, knowing what Rock Tunnel meant. "After all this shit?"

"What else can we do?" Ash pointed out. "We're already on the Team Rocket shit list. If we make enemies with the rebels too, where does that leave us? It'll be the two of us against the world. We're good, but I don't like those odds."

"I hate your logic," Gary muttered.

"Besides," Ash added quietly. "I helped make this mess that the world is in, I think it's only right that I help fix it."

Gary was quiet a moment. "Well, since I helped you make it, I guess I should help you fix it too. And obviously Gramps wants things to change, if he was funding these assholes. So that's double the reason."

Ash gave a small smile.

The next day as they started moving again, Ash fell into step with Brock and Misty.

"We know where Bruno is," he said to them, when he was sure the other rebels were far enough behind or in front of them not to hear. He was hoping to talk to the people who used to be his best friends without the peanut gallery chiming in.

"What?" Misty said, as Gary came up and started to walk next to her.

"Isn't that part of your plan?" Ash said. "To find the Elite Four and ask them to fight with you? We know where Bruno is, and he might have an idea where the other three are."

"_How_ do you know where he is?" Brock asked, and Ash wasn't sure why he was surprised or bothered that he sounded slightly suspicious. He had every right to be.

"We found where he was hiding a few years ago," he replied.

"And Team Rocket doesn't know?" Misty asked.

"You think he'd still be there if they did?" Gary chimed in.

"The only thing we have to go on indicating that he _is_ still wherever you found him and wasn't murdered by Rockets years ago is your word," Brock said. "And that's assuming you're not lying about knowing where he is in the first place. You have to admit you're asking us to take a lot on faith here."

And their faith in him had clearly been broken, Ash realized.

Misty was quiet a moment before saying, "Where is he? We can share the information with the rest of the group and determine what, if anything, we want to do with it."

"Rock Tunnel," Ash replied, but shook his head. "But I don't know if there's much of a point. If you don't believe me, they certainly won't." With that he picked up his pace a little, figuring there wasn't much of a point to keep up the conversation.

On Brock's shoulder, Pikachu chattered something that sounded a lot like he was scolding Misty and Brock, even though the two of him couldn't understand him.

"He wants to help," Gary said to them. "If I were you? I'd let him. Giovanni's kept him close because he's scared of him – of what could happen if he turned on him. You'll only benefit by having him on your side." He then increased his pace as well, catching up to Ash.

* * *

"That's ridiculous, they're obviously lying."

The group had stopped when evening fell. They had passed near Mt. Moon earlier that day, and Ash figured they were probably a few miles north of the outskirts of Cerulean by now.

Misty and Brock gathered all the rebel leaders around the fire and told them what Ash had said earlier, and Blaine had been the first to respond. Ash and Gary were slightly further off, not too close to the fire, but close enough that the rebels could still keep an eye on them. Also close enough to hear the conversation, but it appeared they didn't really care if the former Rockets knew what they thought of them.

Surge rumbled an agreement, but Erika, to their surprise, was the one who spoke up in their defense. "What good would it do them to lie about it? It's in their interest to help us now that Giovanni wants them dead."

"That's what they _say_," Blaine said. "This could all be an elaborate plan to get us to trust them – everything from the attack on the gym."

"We _did _trust them," Erika said. "Why go through all that trouble when we'd already told them most of our plans anyway?"

Gary leaned over and whispered, "Whoa, did one of them just say something logical?"

Ash hid a smile.

"That doesn't mean this isn't a trap," Koga pointed out. "Rockets are fond of that. Remember the man selling the pokemon?"

"You're welcome, by the way," Gary said suddenly; voice loud enough to carry over to the group.

"Gary," Ash muttered, not really wanting him to get into this right now.

They all turned to look at the two of them.

"For the pokemon," Gary elaborated, ignoring Ash's quiet protest. "Oh come on, you remember. The ones that you got from the Rocket who was going to kill Ms. Waterflower, there? Until Ash and I intervened? The pokeballs you each have on your belts right now? You're welcome."

They all stared at them in a stunned silence. Misty was the first to speak, her eyes fixed on Ash. "That—that was you?"

Ash merely shrugged as Gary said, "Sure was."

After a moment Blaine said, "That could also have been part of their plan."

Gary gave an exasperated sigh and threw up his hands in defeat.

* * *

"This is it," Ash said finding a small little opening in a boulder. It looked just barely big enough for an average sized person to fit through.

"Really?" Brock asked, sounding skeptical.

It had been decided that if there was even the slightest chance that Ash and Gary were telling the truth, it was worth it to investigate. But it was also deemed necessary that the rebel leaders get to the Safari Zone as quickly as possible to get status updates. So after a lot of deliberation that Gary had fallen asleep during, the group chose to split up. Surge, Koga, and Blaine would continue to the Safari Zone, while Brock, Misty and Erika would have Ash and Gary lead them to Bruno.

Surge had briefly considered coming with them to "keep the traitors in line" but Brock had told him they could handle it. Once they made it clear of the outskirts of Cerulean City, Blaine and Koga had handed over Ash and Gary's weapons to the other three, and headed south with Surge, while the rest of the group continued east.

Ash knew Gary would have liked to have gone to the Safari Zone as soon as possible, but he clearly didn't want to make the journey with those three.

"Yes, really," Ash said. "It opens up after about fifteen meters." To avoid going to the road and using Rock Tunnel's main entrance, Ash and Gary had brought them to a relatively unknown entrance around the back of the mountain.

Brock, Misty and Erika exchanged glances. Of the three leaders, they seemed to be the ones who wanted to believe that Ash and Gary were on their side, but he could still tell they were all pretty wary about their intentions. It wasn't surprising, he kept telling himself. They'd all changed and under the circumstances it would be stupid of them not to be cautious.

It still hurt.

"I can go first," he offered. But then, he could tell, they were wondering if they should leave him alone in a place that they could easily lose him.

"I'll go with you," Misty said finally, tossing her red braid over her shoulder. "Brock, you and Erika can follow with Gary."

Brock looked a little unsure about the plan, but nodded. Misty pulled a flashlight from her bag, since Pikachu was still staying with Brock, despite the fact that the little pokemon seemed to be getting irritated by being kept separated from his trainer.

Ash went in first, squeezing sideways through the hole, and Misty followed a moment later, sliding off her pack and carrying it down at her side. They had to remain sideways; the rock walls on either side of them were so tight that if they didn't press their backs to the one behind them, their chests would hit the wall in front of them. The made slow progress; sliding their way through the tiny opening, having only the small beam of light from Misty's flashlight to keep them from being in pitch darkness.

"How did you find this entrance?" Misty breathed, like she was afraid if she spoke too loud the walls would cave in on them.

"A mission a few years back," Ash replied, his voice also quiet. "Gary and I were tasked with mapping out this whole place. Took us about four months."

"You were in here for four months?" Misty said, and in the dim light of her flashlight Ash was pretty sure he saw her shiver.

"It wasn't that bad," Ash said. "It was kind of a nice break, actually."

"What could being in a claustrophobic's worst nightmare possibly be a good break from?" Misty asked.

Ash didn't answer the question. It was probably better not to. Instead he said. "It's not all like this. Some of it's actually—" he realized they'd hit the end of the tunnel as his words began to echo. He stepped out and gestured at the huge cavern they were now standing in. "Quite beautiful."

Misty followed him, lifting her flashlight up to look at the place, jaw dropping slightly. Huge stalactites hung from the high ceiling, and below many of them were stalagmites jutting upwards. Several had actually combined to form columns, and the coloring of the whole cavern, even in the dim light, was fiery reds and golds.

"Wow," she murmured, looking around in awe.

It was a few more minutes before Gary appeared, followed by Brock, then Erika. Pikachu was using flash, and when he scampered in after Brock the whole cavern seemed to light up.

"Whoa," Brock said as Erika stared.

"Shall we?" Ash asked, gesturing at one of several tunnels that connected to the cavern.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Erika asked.

Ash nodded and Gary said, "Trust me, nobody knows Rock Tunnel better than we do." He paused. "Except probably Bruno."

Ash started down the tunnel and Pikachu followed him, so the rest moved quickly to stay with the biggest light source.

This tunnel was much larger than the one they had entered through. They were able to walk normally in pairs and still had some room to spare. They were heading downwards, and every now and then Gary and Ash would turn down different connected tunnels, making the rebels more and more nervous as they struggled to remember which way they had come from.

Finally, after nearly an hour of walking, they came to a dead end.

"Uh, Ash?" Misty said, staring at the thick wall of boulders that blocked the way. "This doesn't seem right."

"This wasn't here before," Ash said, examining the pile of rocks.

"Cave in?" Gary asked.

"I don't think so," Ash said. "It looks too… deliberate." He turned to the three rebels behind them, knowing this was a long shot. "Brock, I need my pokemon."

Brock frowned and shook his head. "I can't do that, Ash."

"Look," Gary said. "If Ash was going to attack you with a pokemon, Pikachu's already here and ready to go."

"Chu!" Pikachu agreed with nod.

None of the rebel leaders looked too comfortable at that.

Ash sighed. "It's just to get us through the path. If any of you have a pokemon with Rock Smash, go ahead." It was possible they did, Ash honestly had no idea which pokemon he'd given Misty when he'd thrown her that Rocket's pokebelt. He'd only seen that agent in passing maybe once or twice.

There was silence as the two women looked at Brock. After a moment he said, "Which one do you need?"

"Third from the left," Ash said, pointing at Graveler's pokeball.

Brock reluctantly took it from the belt and maximized it, then handed it to Ash. Ash released the pokemon, who took one look around the rocky tunnel and gave a pleased sounding, "Grav!"

"Need your help, pal," Ash said, smiling at the pokemon and for a moment both Misty and Brock were strongly reminded of the ten year old trainer they'd befriended. Not a practical stranger who had been sent to kill them. "Can you clear the way for us?"

Graveler rumbled in agreement. Ash took a step back and the pokemon lifted all four of his rocky arms and smashed through the rock pile. Several "Dude!"s could be heard, and they watched as at least five Geodudes crawled out of the debris and climbed up the walls, disappearing into cracks too small for any human to fit through.

Once the way was clear, Ash thanked Graveler and recalled him, handing the pokeball back over to Brock.

They continued their trek in silence, Gary and Ash led the way, Misty and Erika behind them, with Brock bringing up the rear with Pikachu. It was maybe ten more minutes before the sounds of rumbling reached their ears. Turning, Ash looked around, frowning in concern as floor beneath them also started to shake.

"Cave in?" Gary tried again.

"No," Ash said with a shake of his head. "This is—"

"Earthquake." Brock recognized the move.

The wall next to Brock began to crack, a small little crevice slowly working into a big line. There was a sudden roar, and Ash cried, "Get down!" He made a run for Brock and practically tackled him backwards. They both fell hard, just as the wall burst outward and what looked like a giant boulder slowly became visible as the dust and debris settled. Ash ignored the sharp pain of his protesting ribs as he quickly got to his feet, pulling Brock with him. Pikachu, who had leapt nimbly from Brock's shoulder when they had gone down, now scampered up to stand on Ash's, looking ready for a fight.

"OOOON," the boulder roared, opening its eyes. Both Ash and Brock swore at the same time.

They couldn't see Misty, Erika, or Gary around the head of the Onix, but Ash could hear his partner as he called, "What is with the giant pokemon in tight spaces theme recently!"

The onix's head swiveled to the group of three at the sound of his voice, so Ash, in an attempt to keep it from attacking them yelled back, "I think we've finally just run out of luck, Gary!" The onix's beady eyes quickly snapped over to him and Brock. "How's your running?" Ash asked the other man.

"Uh. I'm in shape," Brock said.

"Good," Ash replied. "You might want to get started."

"What are you—"

"Pikachu," Ash said, and, realizing he was probably about to do something reckless, Brock decided to take his advice, turning and sprinting back up the tunnel the way they had come. "Thunderbolt. Aim for his eyes." His pokemon gave a determined nod, happy to be back to helping his trainer. He leapt off of Ash's shoulder, and in midair released a powerful thunder, right at the onix's eyes. He landed back on Ash's shoulder as the giant pokemon gave a deafening roar of pain, shook his head a few times and immediately started sliding out of its self-made tunnel toward Ash and Pikachu.

Ash had started running after Brock before the onix had even moved, catching up with the man fairly quickly.

"Was that really a good idea?" Brock asked as they ran.

"Trust me," Ash said. "I've got a plan."

"What is it?"

"…I'm still developing it."

"Ash!"

"Oh, no, wait, I've got it," Ash replied, reaching out and grabbing Brock, pulling him into a tunnel they were passing. The onix, though, was built for fast movement through rock tunnels and he took the turn far more easily than something of his size should, still barreling up behind them.

"This still looks like the same plan," Brock panted.

"Different direction though," Ash replied wryly.

Brock didn't have a chance to respond; the tunnel suddenly opened up into a cavern that was taller than the one they had entered originally. As they hit the cavern, Ash, still running, shoved Brock hard, pushing him out of the trajectory of the onix. The older man let out a cry of surprise, lost his balance and fell to the ground.

"Pikachu, to Brock," he said, and his pokemon immediately obeyed, leaping from his shoulder and running over to the fallen rebel.

It occurred to Ash that this plan would have been better if he hadn't forgotten that he didn't have all of his pokemon. He kept running full tilt as the onix burst angrily from the tunnel. He was fast approaching the edge of a cliff, which, if Ash remembered correctly, dropped off quite suddenly into a thirty meter fall with a bunch of rocky spikes at the bottom.

Unfortunately, Ash waited a little too long to try and stop, and his momentum carried him right off the side, the onix following a moment later, it's roar echoing through the cavern as it fell.

* * *

Gary, Misty and Erika pursued the onix, which was hell bent on chasing Ash and Brock. Gary hadn't been too happy when Ash had had Pikachu attack – not that he was really surprised by it, but for the love of Mew, did the man always have to be so damn reckless with his own life? With Pikachu with the others, they were relying on Misty and Erika's flashlights to illuminate their way.

It took Gary a minute to realize which way Ash had turned. It was both stupid and smart, at least the cavern would give them room to fight, but that massive drop off the cliff wasn't the ideal setting when facing a giant onix.

"Erika," he said as they ran. "Give me my pokemon."

"I can't—"

"Look," he snapped, interrupting her. "I've played nice because Ash asked me to, but now things are serious." The tail of the onix disappeared from their view as it left the tunnel. "Give them to me."

"Pikapi!"

"Ash!" It was Brock's voice and something was clearly wrong.

"Erika, give them to him," Misty said, sounding like she was trying very hard not to panic.

The dark haired woman handed over his pokebelt, and Gary fastened it just as they hit the cavern. He pulled to a sudden stop, boots sliding a bit on the gravel before he stilled. The cavern was lit up by Pikachu, and there was no sign of the onix. That could be good. But where was Ash?

Brock and Pikachu had rushed over to the side of the cliff and were looking over, and Gary, sinking feeling in his stomach, quickly made his way to them.

"That was fucking stupid," Brock was saying, on his stomach and reaching an arm down to Ash, who was dangling dangerously by one arm from a jutted out rock, grimacing in pain. That could not be good for his broken ribs.

"It worked didn't it?" Ash said.

From here they could hear the angry roars of the onix far below them.

"Barely," Brock said, as Ash lifted his free hand and grabbed onto Brock's.

In the light of Pikachu's flash Ash finally seemed to notice Gary. "Problem solved," he told his partner.

"Brock's right, you're an idiot," Gary said, reaching down to help the other man pull up his friend.

"Come on, gimmie a—" he trailed off, clearly focused on not crying out in pain as the pulling made his injuries practically unbearable. Once he was back up next to Brock on flat ground he took a breath and finished the sentence. "Break."

"Pikachu, pika!" Pikachu chimed in, clearly not pleased with his trainer either.

"All right, all right, I get it, no more cliff diving," Ash said to them all. "To be fair, my original plan included Charizard and some flying ability, but I forgot I didn't have him."

Brock looked down at the pokebelt he was wearing, then back at Ash, who had just saved his ass twice, putting himself in danger to do it. With a sigh he unbuckled the belt and held it out to the younger man. "Here."

Ash looked at him in surprise and took the belt. "Thanks," he said as he fastened it.

"Do you think we'll run into another one of those?" Erika said, peering over the cliff into the darkness.

"Anything's possible, but I don't expect to," Ash said.

"Why not?" Misty asked.

"I'm pretty sure that's Bruno's onix," Ash replied. "I think that rock pile was a security system. Those geodudes probably ran off to warn him."

"We'd better hurry," Gary said. "He might pack up and move, and then it could be weeks before we find him."

Pikachu climbed back onto Ash's shoulder and the group quickly returned to the path they'd been on before the onix interruption, heading for the cavern where Ash and Gary had met Bruno three years prior.

* * *

_A/N: This is quite possibly my quickest update in the history of ever. I don't know what's going on. _


	5. Chapter 5

It occurred to Ash, right about the time a beefy fist slammed down between his shoulder blades, that they really should have come up with a code word or something to use in case they ever returned to visit Bruno. Practically seeing stars, he none too gracefully went chest first into the ground. A low grunt from above him was enough to warn him that his attacker wasn't done, and he rolled over in time to catch the foot speeding toward his face.

He struggled a few moments to keep the huge foot from crushing his skull. He was able to push the leg upward and knock the larger man off balance, then used his foot to sweep Bruno's leg out from under him. He went down hard.

"Missed you too, Bruno," Ash groaned.

Bruno sat up quickly, looking down at him, and Ash couldn't help but sigh in relief as recognition entered his expression.

"Little Ash?" Bruno said, turning to look at the rest of the group who were standing by the entrance to the cavern. Ash had been the one "lucky enough" to enter first. An angry looking Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee were blocking Gary, Misty, Brock, and Erika from going any further. Gary had a pokeball in his hand and Pikachu was sparking at his feet. "And Gary."

Ash tried not to roll his eyes. He wasn't six foot eight thousand or whatever Bruno was, but he wasn't exactly little. (His height had always been a bit of a sore spot, even after he'd finally hit his growth spurt.)

Bruno eyed the three strangers with them. "What are you doing here?"

"Just in the neighborhood," Gary said. "Thought we'd drop by."

"Bruno," Ash said, rolling over to his hands and knees and slowly pushing himself to his feet. He really needed to stop jostling those ribs. "You remember Misty, Brock, and Erika? They used to be gym leaders."

Bruno stood as well and narrowed his eyes as he looked at them a little harder, the only light coming from Pikachu and a small fire in the corner of the cavern. He finally seemed to recognize them. His hard face suddenly broke into a grin and he laughed. "Ha! Sorry boys. You two had me worried there for a minute. Thought Team Rocket had finally caught up to me." He clapped Ash so hard on the back he stumbled forward, grimacing.

Recalling his two pokemon, Bruno said, "So what brings you two back here – wasn't expecting company or I would have tidied up."

Ash gave a small grin at that. Bruno had made his home in a cavern – there was a small fire pit for cooking and big flat rock he could use as a table. Aside from that there was a sleeping bag rolled out next to a large pack. That was it. Simplicity at its finest. Ash knew if Bruno began to run out of food, he'd send some pokemon out to forage for him, and on occasion, if they were in the area, Ash and Gary had been known to leave him care packages inside the cavern they'd entered from earlier.

"These folks have something they want to ask you," Gary said, making his way into the cavern now that Bruno's pokemon were out of the way. Pikachu too, scampered over to his trainer.

Bruno raised an eyebrow. "Well then!" he said to them. "Go on. Haven't had anybody to talk to but my pokemon in years."

Misty cleared her throat, clearly not sure what to make of him. He had after all just viciously attacked Ash – no matter how pleasant he seemed, he was not a man to be trifled with.

"We've started a rebellion," she explained. "And we're hoping you will be willing to help."

She explained it all to him, everything they'd done so far, the recruits in the Safari Zone, the few pokemon they'd managed to obtain (with Gary and Ash's help, Gary reminded them all), and the hope that with the Elite Four and their pokemon on their side that they'd be able to throw Giovanni from power once and for all.

"That's a pretty lofty dream," Bruno said when she'd finished, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "But I like the sound of all that better than just sitting here training for nothing until I die." He clapped his hands once and said, "All right, let's do it." And without another word he went over and started to roll up his sleeping bag.

The gym leaders looked somewhat confused that it had been that easy, but Ash wasn't all that surprised. Bruno was bored. He'd spent most of his life, including his time in hiding, training himself and his pokemon; but training only went so far when you didn't have anyone to test your strength against. The entire time they'd stayed with Bruno on their first visit to Rock Tunnel, he'd challenged Ash and Gary to a fight or a pokemon battle every day.

Bruno was ready in no time at all, and he lumbered back up to them, giant pack on his shoulders after dousing the fire. "Just have to get Onix and we can go," he said.

"Uh, Bruno," Ash said, a little sheepishly. "About your Onix…"

After a side trip to collect Buno's onix from the cavern Ash had lost him in, they were once again on their way. Unfortunately, the large man would never fit through the tight tunnel they'd come in through, so they were going to have to risk leaving from one of the more traveled entrances. Not many people came into Rock Tunnel anymore – there wasn't much of a point with the ban on pokemon - so they hoped to pass through unnoticed.

Gary and Bruno were in the lead, Ash behind them with Pikachu back in his proper spot on his shoulder. They'd decided to use the south entrance, planning to follow route ten for a bit before cutting southwest to approach the Safari Zone from the north.

"Bruno," Erika said as they were getting close to the exit. "Is there any chance you know where any of the other Elite Four have taken refuge? The more help we have the better our chances are."

Bruno "hmmm'd" for a moment, clearly thinking. "I don't know how happy they'd be with me, if I told you, little missy," he said, tapping his chin. Then he grinned. "Then again, what could they possibly do to me? Agatha's the easiest to get to – but I don't think she'll be very easy to find. I have an idea where Lorelei might be, but it's just a hunch, mind you. And Lance… well Lorelei will know where he is."

"What do you mean that Agatha's easiest to get to but hard to find?" Misty asked.

"She's in Lavender Town," Bruno said. "Just down route ten. She's been there since the takeover."

Ash and Gary exchanged looks. "No way," Gary said. "We were sent there to look for her years ago, didn't find a trace of her."

Bruno shrugged. "Can't say it surprises me. But she's there."

Ash frowned, wondering how the hell they could have missed her. They'd combed that town top to bottom.

"Then she must be a ghost," Gary said. "Because I'm telling you, we would have found her."

"And done what?" Erika asked. "Turned her in?"

Gary glanced over his shoulder at her. "I didn't say that," he replied with a bit of a scowl.

"Erika…" Brock said looking between them.

Ash was only half listening to the conversation. _Then she must be a ghost. _He let out a sudden laugh, surprising them all, and effectively distracting them from the slight tension that had begun to build. "I know where she is."

* * *

"Oh no," Misty said, as the group stood in front of a dark tall tower that somehow managed to look like the devil if you gazed at it from the right angle. "I am not going back in there."

"Pikachu," the yellow pokemon on Ash's shoulder said, almost sounding like he was agreeing. His ears were flat and he looked very uneasy.

It had grown dark by the time they'd finally reached their destination, and an unnaturally thick fog had settled around them almost from the moment they'd entered the town.

"We looked in the Pokemon Tower, Ash," Gary reminded him. "And that was before it had gotten this bad. No way she's been in there this whole time."

"What happened to this place?" Brock asked.

What had once been noises of ghostly laughter, which they'd mistaken as frightening when they'd traveled here as kids, had been replaced with loud moans and screams that could be heard even from outside. These sounds actually _were_ frightening, and seemed to be full of anger and pain. A shiver of fear ran through Misty.

"What do you think happened to the pokemon Team Rocket confiscated after the takeover?" Gary said. "A lot of them died. In terrible ways."

"Many of their spirits found their way here," Ash said, grimly. "And very few of them are happy."

Misty had heard stories over the years about the Tower. Harmless pranks like the ones she, Ash and Brock had experienced as kids by bored but playful ghost pokemon began to take a darker turn as more and more pokemon were cruelly experimented on and killed by Team Rocket. Several people had been killed – one even falling from the top floor of the tower. Lavender Town began to slowly empty out over the years as the people living there became more and more nervous by the increasing violence, and eventually the tower was boarded up and the town abandoned, becoming an actual ghost town.

"And you want to go _in_ there?" Misty said, not liking the idea one bit.

"Do you guys want Agatha to help you or not?" Ash said.

"Ash, how the hell do you know she's in there?" Gary said, sounding exasperated. "We've already looked here and never found her."

"She's here," was Ash's reply. "You guys can stay out here. I'll go get her."

"Yeah right," Gary said. "Anytime you go somewhere on your own you get yourself into trouble."

"I fall off a building one time and you never let me hear the end of it," Ash said, shaking his head.

"You _what_?" Brock asked, but the two men ignored him.

"Because it wouldn't have happened if you'd just waited for me," Gary said.

"Fine, come if you want," Ash said with a shrug. He approached the boarded up door, and took hold of one of the planks of wood that were nailed over it. Gary was right behind him.

Bruno shrugged and followed, not appearing too worried about the ghosts. Misty, Brock, and Erika watched as the three of them began ripping the boards from the door, and Misty shivered as she remembered the last time they were here. They'd found Ash lifeless under a chandelier. And that was apparently the harmless version of this tower.

The doorway was soon revealed, and Misty took a breath and followed with the other two rebel leaders, coming up behind Ash as he reached for the handle. The door opened with a loud, long creak and the screams they had previously heard abruptly stopped. The silence made her even more nervous.

"Is this really a good idea?" Erika whispered.

Gary snorted. "Who are we kidding? It's a terrible idea."

"Pikachu, flash," Ash said and the little pokemon began to light their way. Ash entered and Gary was right behind him with a hand on his pokebelt, clearly ready to release one if he needed it. The rest of them slowly followed. Pikachu hadn't left Ash's shoulder, tail up and eyes alert, scanning the room for threats.

"You guys don't have to come," Ash told the rest of them.

Misty shook her head. "We're doing this for the rebellion, it's only right we're here."

Ash sighed, and continued into the Tower. The place was in an even worse state than when Misty had been there last. Everything was rotting: the floors, the curtains, the walls. Furniture was toppled over, and there was a dark stain near the bottom of the stairs that she was fairly certain was blood. The only noise that could be heard was the sound of their soft breathing and the creaking of the floorboards as they walked.

Ash led the way to the stairs, and the rest of them followed, though they weren't exactly sure where they were going or why. It wasn't until they hit the third floor that any of them spoke.

"Uh… guys?" Erika said from behind them, voice shaking.

They turned to see one of Gary's guns floating in midair, pointing at the group. (Erika had been holding onto the pistols, as the rebels still weren't quite comfortable arming the two former Rockets despite allowing them to have their pokemon back.)

"Oh shit," Gary said.

They could see the trigger slowly pulling.

"Everyone down!" Ash cried, and they all dove to the floor as the first shot was fired.

Along with the sound of the gun was the crack of a pokeball opening, and a quiet, "Bree!"

"Umbreon, Payback, now!" Gary said as he ducked.

The black pokemon started to glow purple, and simultaneously a purple light surrounded the gun. For a moment a wavering form could be seen and then there was a scream. The gun dropped to the floor as the blur flew off in the opposite direction.

Gary stood and picked up his weapon from the floor, checking it over.

"Gary," Erika said, looking nervously between him and the weapon.

Gary saw this and rolled his eyes. "For the love of – Ash is a black belt. He doesn't even need a weapon to kill you people. We have dangerous pokemon willing to fight for us. Neither of us have ever attacked any of you - in fact we've both saved your asses, several times, even when we _were _with Team Rocket. Will you please just all unbunch your damn panties and cut us a break?" He did not give his gun back. In fact he held out his hand, clearly expecting his other gun and holster.

"Gary," Ash said, as he stood from where he'd dropped to the floor. "Just—"

Brock's hand had slowly gone to the pokeball attached to his belt.

"No," Gary interrupted Ash. "If we wanted them dead, we'd have killed them already. This is bullshit." When Erika made no move to hand over his things, he shoved the gun into the waistband of his pants, turned and stalked back the way they were originally heading. "Umbreon, let's go." He disappeared around a corner, his pokemon trotting after him.

"You're really a black belt?" Misty asked Ash.

Ash shrugged and Bruno laughed. "He's gotta be, if he can beat me in a fight." He clapped the smaller man on the back so hard Misty winced. "We used to spar all the time in the Tunnel. We were tied for wins when he finally left."

"I still think you let me win," Ash replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

"No chance, little Ash," Bruno said.

Gary stormed back into view a few moments later. "I don't know where we're going," he growled, crossing his arms over his chest. "But I'm still pissed, so no one assume otherwise."

Ash shook his head with a small smile and continued to lead the way. He was looking into rooms as he went, until he finally seemed to spot something he was looking for. The room he lead them into appeared to have once been a ballroom of some sort. There was a dusty wood floor and what was once probably a very beautiful chandelier hanging from the ceiling, though now it was covered in cobwebs.

"What are we doing in here?" Erika asked as Ash pulled to a stop in the center of the room.

"Finding Agatha," Ash replied. "I'm going to need some space." He spread out his arms to indicate a large area of the floor, and the rest of group stepped back to give him room. "Pikachu, you too."

The pokemon seemed to hesitate, chattering something at his trainer, but eventually hopped off his shoulder and over to sit next to Gary's umbreon.

"What is the plan here?" Gary asked.

"I'm going to go get her," Ash said. "The rest of you should probably go back outside, but since everybody felt the need to come in, I guess you should all be ready in case any more pissed off spirits make an appearance."

Gary opened his mouth, but Misty spoke first. "Why can't we go with you?"

Ash pulled out a pokeball, releasing it in a corner of the room. The large form of Charizard appeared and he yawned, sharp fangs showing and smoke billowing lightly from his muzzle. Ash shrugged. "Because I'm not totally sure it'll work." Before any of them could argue, he said, "Charizard, slash," and pointed up at the chandelier he'd positioned himself under.

Misty suddenly felt her stomach drop as she realized what he was trying to do. The pokemon snorted an agreement, and took off flying, slashing at the large heavy light fixture with a sharp claw. "Ash – no!"

But it was too late. The chandelier fell with a crash, and for a long moment there was nothing but a stunned silence in the room. Then the spirits began to scream.

* * *

This would have been easier if he'd had Haunter with him. But without a ghost pokemon, Ash couldn't think of any different way to get to Agatha. So that left him with no other option but to try and have another out of body experience.

What? It had seemed like a good idea at the time.

Based off the look on Gary's face, some kind of hybrid between horrified and angry, it might not have been. He'd seen his friend try to make a run for him, but the chandelier had come down too fast. Then there was blackness. And then, there was Gengar.

"I was wondering if you were still here," he said to the fuzzy purple pokemon that had basically just yanked him out of his body. He was floating a few feet above himself, and took a look down. Ouch. He'd feel that bump on the head when he woke up.

"Gengar?" the ghost said, looking far more worried and much less playful than Ash remembered him.

"I need to talk to Agatha," Ash said.

Pained shrieks suddenly filled the air, somehow louder than when Ash was in his body. Gengar put his paws over his ears, shaking his head. "Gengar!" he turned and fled the room, flying through the wall.

"Shit," Ash muttered, following him.

Flying was weird. Going through walls was weirder. But by the time he'd flown into the hallway, Gengar had disappeared. Looked like he was on his own. He went through another wall, appearing in a dark sitting room.

He was about to keep going when he spotted movement in the corner. "Gengar?" he said.

The ghost moved, floating up but not moving any closer. Ash cautiously moved toward it. What he saw, however, was not Gengar. It was not even a ghost pokemon. It was a spirit. It looked like it had once been a houndoom, but it's entire left side was burned horribly, the skin hanging in thick strips and bones showing. One of its horns had been ripped off. Ash looked at it sadly. This was his fault – these experiments, the horrible torture these pokemon had been put through at the hands of Team Rocket – he'd made it all possible.

The spirit was suddenly snarling, looking particularly menacing without lips on half of its face. It rushed through the air at Ash, ghostly jaws snapping, and he found himself wondering if spirits could hurt other spirits.

He remembered Gengar's sudden terror at the sound of the other spirits and decided that it was probably better not to find out. He turned and flew out of the room as fast as he could, but the houndoom was right on his heels. He started flying through walls, in and out of rooms and hallways, the houndoom still trying to sink his teeth into him.

He flew into another room and came to such a sudden halt that the houndoom crashed into him, and they tumbled through the air. The spirit managed to get its jaws around Ash's arm and, out of body or not, Ash felt it when those teeth sunk in. He clenched his jaw tightly in an attempt to keep from screaming.

The houndoom, though, was the least of his worries. The room he'd just entered was full of spirits. There were dozens, maybe even a hundred. Cries, screams and snarls began to fill the air as they noticed him – all horribly disfigured pokemon, burned, bloated, missing limbs, or with extra ones attached (Ivy's early splicing attempts he was sure).

For a moment, just a brief moment, Ash simply… stopped. He deserved this. These pokemon deserved to kill him.

But then, from some ways away he suddenly could make out the sound of Gary's voice. "Ash, you son of a bitch!"

It snapped him out of it, and he flew up and through the ceiling, the houndoom still latched onto his arm, and now with a trail of violent spirits following close behind. If they could hurt him though, he hoped that the favor could be returned. Feeling a little guilty, he lifted his free fist as he flew, bringing it down hard on the houndoom's head. With a yip the spirit's jaws released him, and he flew toward the room he'd originally been aiming for, not exactly sure what his next move would be.

He entered the room – the ghost pokemon's playroom. It had no door, the only way in was to be a spirit or to be pulled in by a spirit. He was sure this was where Agatha would be. But he didn't have time to look for her, as spirits poured through the wall after him.

They descended on him, and he put up his arms in a pathetic attempt to ward them off.

A screech, different than the cries of the spirits, filled the air, and Ash watched as the entire horde went quiet and stopped suddenly, some only inches from him. They slowly turned and left the room.

It grew silent again.

"Who are you?" The voice was female, sharp and authoritative.

Ash, still floating, spun in a circle, scanning the room for her. It looked much the same as the first time he'd been here. There were toys everywhere, several slides and little jungle gyms, and a merry-go-round that was spinning. That's when he spotted her, standing on the merry-go-round, holding onto one of the bars as it slowly turned. There was a golbat perched on the top, and Ash had a feeling he knew where that screech had come from.

"My name's Ash Ketchum," he told her as she spun out of his sight. "We've met before."

When she came back into view she stepped off the merry-go-round, keeping her distance and eyeing him. "Yes. I remember. The last Pokemon Champion. I don't see many human spirits in this tower," she said. She was old, but aged well, there was a youthfulness to her attitude and she appeared sharp as ever. She still carried her cane.

"I came to ask you to help some friends of mine," Ash said.

"Help them in what way?" Agatha asked.

"They're attempting to fight back against Team Rocket," he said. "They've begun a rebellion, but are sorely lacking in pokemon. We know you escaped with yours."

"I did," Agatha agreed. "But I won't use them in that manner. You've wasted your time coming here."

"You won't use them to fight for freedom? You want to stay here in this tower the rest of your life?" Ash asked.

"I've lived a full life. I'll stay here and keep my pokemon safe, not fight in a gruesome battle – perhaps even a war - that will likely lead to the death of even more pokemon," she said.

"If you think not doing anything will keep pokemon from death or pain, you're mistaken," Ash said. "I know what Team Rocket does. Leaving them unopposed won't save pokemon – it just allows them to do more experiments, more torture."

Agatha frowned. "And how do you know this?"

Ash hesitated for a moment. "I was one of them. I've seen it, first hand."

"You worked for the enemy you now want me to help fight?" Agatha said, and her wrinkled face twisted into a harsh smile as she shook her head. "You were the League Champion, Ash Ketchum. Your job was to protect the pokemon and the people who looked to you as an inspiration. You were the model of what a trainer should be - you were what they aspired to. You didn't fight then and you're looking to me to fight now?"

Ash fell silent at her words, staring at the merry-go-round as it spun. "I can't change what happened. I can't right all the wrongs I've committed. But I can sure as hell do the right thing now." He met her gaze. "I'm done hiding. I'm going to fix this world or die trying." It was a vow, not to her, but to himself. He wouldn't be able to atone for his sins. All he could do now was move forward, and for the first time in a very long time, he felt like he was going in the right direction.

* * *

Bruno was the one who pulled the heavy chandelier off of Ash's still form. "Ash, you son of a bitch!" Gary said, kneeling down next to him and immediately assessing his injuries. He was always doing this - stupid, rash decisions that very often almost wound up getting him killed.

Pikachu scampered to his trainer as soon as the chandelier was out of his way. He sniffed at Ash before nudging him with his little paw, ears flat on his head as he said, "Pikapi?"

"Is he…?" Misty asked, sounding a bit fearful for the answer.

Gary felt for a pulse. Slow, but there. "No," he told Misty. He pulled a pokeball from his belt and released his alakazam. "Recover," he said to the pokemon, nodding at Ash. Alakazam began to glow.

"Will that work?" Erika asked quietly.

"It's not as effective on humans as it is on pokemon, but it'll work," Gary said.

Howls and shrieks suddenly filled the air, but they seemed to be further in the tower, not near enough to be an immediate concern.

Gary moved to a sitting position, his back to his friend, and waited.

"Why did he do that?" Brock asked, shaking his head as he stood looking down at Ash.

"Because he's Ash," Gary replied. "He's always doing things like this."

"Like falling off buildings?" Erika said, referring to the conversation from earlier.

"He's reckless," Gary said with a shrug, eyes surveying the room, not his friend. He had to be ready if they were attacked. Ash's charizard was snorting in the corner. He looked a bit displeased by the turn of events. He'd just done what Ash had commanded, but it was obvious he hadn't realized what would happen until it was too late. Just like all of them.

"He's always been that way," Misty commented quietly, kneeling down next to Ash.

Gary snorted. He knew that. It was worse now, however. He'd watched it progress from some kind of hero complex to a blatant disregard for his own life. Sometimes Gary couldn't help but wonder if Ash had a secret death wish. Gary worried that one day his friend was going to do something truly stupid and he wouldn't be there to keep his ass alive. And if that happened, he honestly wasn't sure what he'd do.

The screaming in the distance stopped. The tower became eerily silent once more. They stayed there in silence for probably fifteen minutes.

"Maybe we should get out of here," Erika nervously piped up.

"Go ahead. I'll bring Ash as soon as he's healed enough to move," Gary said, eyes still scanning the room.

The suggestion was met with silence. Gary guessed the rebels were pondering the odds of him just taking Ash out another way and making a run for it. If Gary wasn't heading for the Safari Zone anyway, he might have done just that.

Brock finally spoke. "Misty, Erika, Bruno, why don't you head out? I'll wait and help Gary with Ash."

"I think we should all stay together," Misty said, looking up from her position next to Ash.

Gary turned to finally check on Ash's injuries. Alakazam's recover was slowly healing him - the bump on his head was fading, and when he lifted up Ash's shirt, even the bruise from his rib injury he'd gotten when fighting that monster in the gym had almost disappeared. Gary had wanted to use this technique on him days ago, but since he'd only recently been allowed to have his pokemon, they'd had to wait.

"We can move him soon," he announced. Right as the screams started again. Much closer than before.

"Soon being now, I hope," Bruno said, for the first time showing that maybe he wasn't as okay with these ghosts as he'd seemed.

"What's the matter, old friend?" a new voice said from the doorway. "Afraid you won't be able to punch through spirits?"

Everyone's heads snapped in her direction. Agatha stood, leaning on her cane, smiling wryly at Bruno, a golbat flapping by her shoulder.

"Agatha!" Bruno boomed. "I knew you'd be here."

"I understand you have a rebellion you'd like me to join," Agatha said.

"How did you…" Misty began, but then glanced down at the unmoving Ash.

"Quite a risk," Agatha said, looking from Ash to a space next to her as if she was talking to someone invisible. "Looks like you weren't just waxing poetic earlier. But it's not your time yet. You still have things to change." She gave a nod and her eyes seemed to follow something that only she could see, all the way over to Ash's body.

Gary couldn't help but start as Ash quite suddenly opened his eyes.

"Ash!" Misty said, just as surprised. "That was one of the stupidest-"

"Sorry," Ash said, cutting her off as he sat up. He was looking at Gary when he said it though.

"You're an idiot, Ash," Gary said, standing and dusting off his pants. Then he reached down and offered his friend his hand, which Ash accepted letting Gary pulled him to his feet.

* * *

_A/N: Still alive! Hope you enjoy!_


	6. Chapter 6

"Pathetic!"

Ash looked up from where he'd landed on his ass, staring up at the short but feisty blonde who was glaring down at him. She reminded him of Misty in some ways, her temper fierce and not to be reckoned with, but she didn't leave him with a fond feeling whenever he saw her like Misty always had. He was actually beginning to think he hated her. It was startling, because it was an emotion he had never truly felt until recently.

When he was younger he used to think he hated Gary, but he was coming to realize that he'd never harbored the kind of hatred toward Gary that he was feeling now. In fact, looking back on it, he'd peg it as annoyance at best.

He hated Giovanni. He _hated_ him. It was a deep seething anger that bubbled up inside him every time he saw him, which, fortunately, had become less now that he was no longer the Pokemon Champion. Now he was just a seventeen year old punk, training to become another grunt in Giovanni's personal army. What else was he going to do, right? He was "dead" after all, and it had been made very clear to him that if he wished to remain alive and have his mother do the same, he'd make himself useful.

"Is that all you've got, Ketchum?" Domino taunted, tossing a blonde ponytail over her shoulder.

Yes, he hated Domino. She was Giovanni's right hand and trained all the new recruits in the ways of fighting. They had a war to win now, after all.

Unsurprisingly, not everyone was satisfied with the new leadership of Team Rocket. There was a resistance forming, people who refused to give up their pokemon without a fight, people who wouldn't bow down to this self imposed leader. Ash longed to join them.

But instead he was here, underneath the Viridian City gym, getting his ass kicked by Domino.

"Don't know why the boss is even bothering to keep you around," Domino sniffed, rolling her eyes. "Who's next?" she looked around the circle of recruits, almost all of them new faces, several looking terrified, others grim.

Ash hated them.

He hated the ones who were there because they wanted to be and he hated the ones who had been forced to join up – people who'd been rebelling then had been captured and given the choice of join or die. He hated them because he knew it was his fault they were stuck here now. He'd let Giovanni walk right into power, paving the way for him throughout his reign as "Champion." What an empty title.

He hated himself most of all. It was a loathing unlike anything he'd ever felt before. It was more than guilt. It was disappointment. What had he let happen?

"No one?" Domino scoffed. "What's the matter? You're all afraid?"

A hand appeared in Ash's vision and he blinked, realizing it was Gary, gazing down at him with an expression of what might have been worry on his face.

He took his friend's hand and let Gary pull him to his feet, feeling for the first time the blood trickling down from his nose. He used his sleeve to wipe it away.

"What are you doing?" Gary hissed at him. "You're better than that – you looked like you just gave up."

"She's too good," Ash said, shaking his head.

Domino stalked up to a particularly terrified looking boy who couldn't have been more than fourteen and said, "You. On the mat. Now." The kid was scrawny, clearly not built for any hand to hand combat, and when she approached him he appeared ready to cry.

"I'll go," Gary spoke up, surprising Ash. Gary had been training alongside Ash for the last six months, but he hadn't quite been able to master any of the fighting techniques Domino and the other trainers had taught them. His talents lay elsewhere – Ash had seen him strip and reassemble a gun in less than thirty seconds, but when it came to fighting he was more about brute strength than finesse. Against someone like Domino that wasn't going to cut it.

Domino snorted, clearly thinking the same thing. "All right then Oak, let's see if you've learned anything since last time."

"Gary—" Ash said, but his friend was already walking onto the mat.

The fight began, and Ash winced as Domino held nothing back (not that she ever did) and Gary struggled to try and block her powerful attacks. For a small person she could pack a hell of a punch.

"You know, Twerp, I never thought I'd see the day when you gave up." Ash pulled his gaze from Gary long enough to look at Jessie, who had sidled up next to him. She was still taller than he was, and stared down at him haughtily. "I figured you'd keep that annoying optimism up forever."

"Shut up," Ash said. He turned his attention back to Gary, just in time to watch him take a particularly vicious right hook to the face.

"Yeah," James chimed in from the other side of him. Ash hadn't even noticed them approach. They were sneaky, he'd give them that. "What happened to that hero complex of yours?"

"Just go away," Ash said.

"You know what I think, James?" Jessie continued, ignoring him. "I think he's just not trying."

"Really?" James asked, looking like he really understand why that would be true.

"Did you not just see her kick my butt?" Ash growled, patience all but gone as he watched Gary get his feet swept out from under him and land on his back.

"I saw a half-assed attempt at blocking some hits," Jessie said.

"See, _he_ looks like he's actually trying," James said as Gary rolled away from a high kick that landed on the mat, but had been aimed for his face.

"Still getting his ass kicked," Jessie commented. "But yeah. At least trying."

"What do you two want?" Ash snapped.

Jessie's voice grew low, so that only Ash and James could really hear her. "You're letting him win, Twerp."

"I'm just doing what I've got to," Ash replied, suddenly wanting to hit them both.

"You're barely doing anything," Jessie said. "I've seen you training in here when you think no one's around. You're afraid if you try you'll be good at it, and that that'll somehow make you a worse person. You've got talent – own up to it. You're a Team Rocket Agent now. Better to be good than be mediocre like us. There's no respect there – no power. No chance to do something good now and then. Like help out your friend."

Ash saw the opening Domino had on Gary. He'd struggled to his feet and gave her the perfect shot at his head. Before his friend had even had a chance to shake off the last hit, she was planting her foot and spinning, a powerful roundhouse kick going straight for Gary's jaw.

But Ash had moved – something in Jessie's words spurring him onto the mat – catching her foot before it could connect.

"My turn," he said.

Domino grinned. "Look who's back for another beating. Fine. Oak, go nurse your wounds."

That was the first time Ash really tried, and the first time Domino lost a spar.

* * *

"Ash…"

"I know."

"How long?"

"Since Lavender. At least."

The group had gotten off the main road after leaving Lavender Town, heading southwest for the Safari Zone, but the addition of Agatha, who was older and not exactly built for trudging through thick woods with no path, had slowed them down considerably. They'd stopped for the night, still probably a good three or four days from their destination.

Ash and Gary were sitting on one side of the fire, talking lowly as they ate some of the food Brock had cooked up. The former gym leaders were chatting with Bruno and Agatha, catching them up on things they had missed during their years of exile.

Ash noticed that Brock would send an occasional glance their way, probably wondering if they were plotting something.

"So what's the plan?" Gary asked.

"I'll handle it," Ash replied.

Pikachu, from his spot next to him gave a quiet "Chu!" offering his help.

"Not on your own," Gary said.

"I won't be on my own, Pikachu will be with me." Ash finished his food and set it aside.

"So I'll back you up."

"There's no way they'll let the two of us out of their sight," Ash said, subtly nodding at the rebels across the flames. "I'll go, take care of it, and be back before anyone gets suspicious."

Gary sighed. When he spoke, he addressed Pikachu. "Send up a thundershock if he gets into trouble."

"Pika," the pokemon said with a nod. It wouldn't be the first time they'd used his attack as a flare.

Ash stood, leaving the light of the fire and disappearing into the woods.

"Taking a piss," he heard Gary say, probably in response to a rebel asking where he was going. "Gonna monitor that too?"

Ash seemed to melt into the darkness. His black clothes and hair helped, but years of martial arts training had taught him all the best ways to remain unseen. He knew how to find the shadows, and when he moved it was practically silent. Pikachu had scampered onto his shoulder and sat quietly. He went the long way around before doubling back, coming up right behind his targets.

They were a fair distance from the rebel's camp. Ash could just make out the small glow of the fire some ways away.

"Should I prepare for trouble?" Ash asked, crossing his arms as he looked at the back of two figures who were both peering through binoculars.

They started visibly, spinning around with gasps. Everything they did was dramatic, Ash found himself thinking.

"Satoshi!" the man with blue hair said, his expression looking a bit frightened. The woman recovered quicker from the surprise, and flipped her long red ponytail over her shoulder. They were both dressed in black.

Jessie and James had always been considered bumbling idiots among all the members of Team Rocket, their leader included, until Ash one day took the time to point out to Giovanni that he simply wasn't utilizing their talents correctly. If there was one thing he'd learned from his childhood, it was that Jessie and James could always find him. Always. No matter where he went, they would arrive and try to steal Pikachu. Sure, their follow-through was terrible, and even as a ten year old he'd been putting them in their place, but still, the fact remained, they could track.

Once Giovanni began to give them missions that solely required them to use those skills, they proved themselves surprisingly competent. At Ash's suggestion they began using their free time to work on developing new technology for Team Rocket – another thing they'd always seemed to have a knack at. As the years passed they gained respect, and Giovanni now actually considered them fairly irreplaceable assets.

"You've caused quite the stir at HQ, Twerp," Jessie said, using her favorite nickname for him. At some point over the years Ash was pretty sure it had become a term of endearment.

"Good," Ash said. "What's the point if I didn't create a little panic?"

"What are you planning to do?" James said, wringing his hands. "There are rumors flying around that you're coming back to kill everyone."

"Don't be stupid, James," Jessie snapped. "It would be suicide to even try."

"Does he know we're here?" Ash said, ignoring both of their comments.

"We haven't checked in yet," Jessie said. "And do you mind telling us where you managed to find two of the Elite Four? Did you just stumble over them on your mad dash from Team Rocket?"

"Have you heard anything about our families?" Ash asked, once again not answering them. He must have sounded more anxious than he intended to, because they both gave him sympathetic looks.

Jessie shook her head. "You know we're on a need to know basis," she said. "Apparently we don't need to know. All I've heard is that Cassidy took one of Ivy's monsters down to Pallet. Nearly destroyed the whole place."

Ash's expression darkened.

"Are you going to come back and kill everyone?" James asked again.

"I'm going to do what I should have done years ago," Ash replied.

"But not to us, right?" James said. "I thought we were friends, Twerp."

It was true. Ash did consider them friends. Or maybe the older siblings he'd never really wanted.

"I thought we were too," Ash replied with a shake of his head. "But here you are, hunting us down for Giovanni."

"What were we supposed to do?" Jessie said. "Tell him no? You know that's not exactly an option."

"You should do whatever you feel like you should do," Ash said. "But I'm going to set things right. You can either help me or you can try to stop me."

Jessie and James exchanged nervous looks.

"What exactly is your plan, Twerp?" Jessie asked. "You come for the boss, you'd better be prepared to start a war. And two Elite four and a few of ex-gym leaders aren't going to be much of an army."

"That's a problem for me to worry about," Ash said. "The real question is what are you two going to do?"

"What do you mean?" James asked, still sounding nervous.

"If you tell Giovanni where we are, we're as good as dead," Ash said. His former boss wouldn't make the mistake of letting them get away a second time.

"And if we tell him we can't find you, so are we," Jessie said. "We're only useful when we find the people we're supposed to track. And when we aren't useful-"

James finished her sentence for her, taking his finger and sliding it across his neck. "Dead."

Ash knew this. He was sure Giovanni was aware that there was a certain sort of friendship between him and Jessie and James and if they suddenly failed to do what they could do best, it would look suspicious. "The time will come when you're going to have to choose a side," Ash said. "But for now, all we need is head start."

The duo looked at each other. Finally, Jessie said, "We can give you that."

"I appreciate it," Ash said with a shake of his head. "But if you just let us leave, Giovanni's gonna get suspicious. Plus, you're terrible liars."

"We fooled you enough times," Jessie huffed, clearly offended by his words.

"I was ten," Ash defended himself. "And, what can I say, James makes a convincing woman." He grinned as Pikachu "Kaa'd" in agreement.

"Oh shut up," James replied. "So what-"

But James never got to finish his sentence. Ash, faster than either of them were able to react to, brought his hands down, hitting them in the crook of their necks and knocking them both unconscious. "Sorry," he said, as they both crumpled to the ground.

"Chu, pika," Pikachu said.

"I know, Pikachu," Ash said. "But better to wake up with a headache and a good excuse, than try to make Giovanni buy that they lost us."

He knelt down and went through the pack James had been carrying. He used the rope he found to secure them both to a tree, then shrugged the pack onto his shoulders.

"Ash?"

The call came from a distance away. It was Brock's voice. He'd been gone for a while, he realized, and the rebels were probably starting to wonder if he'd slipped off. Ash quickly made his way back.

"Ash!" Brock called again. He was standing near the edge of camp, and Misty and Erika were also looking out into the darkness.

"I'm here," he said, sliding up quietly enough that Brock started when he finally spoke.

"Where did you-" Brock began, but Ash didn't stop his stride, walking into camp and over to Gary.

"We need to move," he said to them all, tossing Gary a communicator he'd pulled off of Jessie and James. "Can you reprogram it?" he asked his partner.

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Gary said, catching it with a grin. Gary and Ash made a good team, because they both excelled at very different things. Ash was the quiet one - the martial artist, stealthy and good with silent weapons. Gary was the loud one, a crack shot who knew how to rig things to explode, and had a knack for messing with technology.

"What's going on?" Misty said.

"Where did you get those supplies?" Erika added.

"Rocket trackers," Ash replied. "We need to get going. We sit around here and they'll find us before we ever make it to the Safari Zone."

The rebels exchanged glances, and, much to Ash's surprise, didn't question him. They began to pack their things, and Agatha and Bruno stood as well.

"How long we got?" Gary asked, once the others were busy gathering their belongings. He popped the case of the communicator off and began examining the wires.

"Maybe a day," Ash replied. "Left them tied to a tree, unconscious. They'll need to get back to a town before they can check in."

Gary glanced up at the rest of their group, particularly at Agatha. "A day won't be enough," he said. "They'll catch up and this time they'll have friends." He popped a wire out and reconnected it. "Tons of friends."

"I know," Ash said. "And they can't find the Safari Zone. Not before the rebels have a chance to mobilize."

"You sound like you have a plan," Gary said.

"A plan for what?" Brock asked, approaching them with his pack slung over his shoulders. He asked the question loud enough that the rest of the rebels glanced over as well. Gary finished with the communicator and handed it to Ash, who in turn gave him the other one he was holding. He opened it and started the same process.

"This secure?" Ash asked.

"It's on its own channel now," Gary said. "The one we use when we don't want anyone to hear us."

"We need to split up," Ash said to all of them. "You get to the Safari Zone, and I'm going to lead Team Rocket on a wild psyduck chase. If they catch us now, we're all dead, and if they figure out our destination, your rebellion's going to be squashed before it even starts."

"Ash," Gary said. "We need to get to the Safari Zone." Gary had been pretty patient (by Gary standards), but Ash knew it was driving him crazy not to know if his family was all right. They had no way to securely communicate with the Safari Zone, so until they arrived there themselves, they were in the dark.

"I know," Ash said. "You'll go with them."

"Like hell," Gary replied instantly. "No chance you're going on your own to be bait."

"Yeah, Ash," Misty chimed in, tugging her own pack on. "That sounds like a terrible idea. We should stick together."

"Sticking together's not an option," Ash said. "I can move faster on my own and pull their attention away from you guys."

"No," Gary said with a firm shake of his head. "I'm going with you."

"Gary—"

"No," Gary repeated.

Misty and Erika were looking to Brock, clearly unsure what to do. Ash knew that he and Gary were still technically their prisoners, still technically traitors not to be trusted, and letting them go on their own was taking a big risk, because as far as they knew, they could run back to Giovanni and give him all the information he needed to destroy the rebellion. Not that Ash had any such intention, but he couldn't really blame them for their concern.

Brock seemed to think on Ash's plan long and hard, before finally speaking up. "We'll split up," he said. "Misty, Erika, Bruno and Agatha will head to the Safari Zone. I'll go with Ash and Gary."

"Brock—" Ash began to protest. It wasn't safe for him to come with them. They were deliberately going to make themselves targets.

"We can kill two pidgeys with one stone here," Brock cut him off. "Bruno and Agatha think they know where Lorelei is. We were discussing it while you were in the woods. So the three of us will lead Team Rocket away from the rebellion, lose them, and then continue on to see if we can get a third Elite on our side."

Ash raised his eyebrows and looked at Gary. Gary just shrugged, finishing up with the second communicator and tossing it to Ash. "No worse than your original plan," he said with a smirk.

Ash didn't really like the idea of taking Brock into a situation that was definitely going to be dangerous. But they didn't have much time to sit around arguing, and honestly if Brock was anything like he used to be, he was competent and level headed, which was exactly what they could use for the plan he was formulating.

"We'll need the rest of our weapons," he finally said.

Misty, Brock and Erika exchanged glances, but none of them made an argument. Misty reached into her bag and handed Ash his daggers, Erika unbuckled Gary's holster and held it and his second gun out, and Brock removed the bo staff from where it had been strapped to his back.

"We're trusting you here," Brock said, handing him the staff.

Ash nodded. "You won't regret it," he promised, putting his weapons back where they belonged.

Ash held one of the communicators out to Misty. "The connection is secure. Let us know when you make it to the Safari Zone."

"And who you find there," Gary added tensely, reminding them all of the uncertain fate of Professor Oak, May, and Delia Ketchum.

Misty handed the communicator to Erika. "I'm coming with you," she told Ash.

"Misty, no-" Brock said.

"I'm coming, Brock, so let's avoid the argument and get moving," she replied, and Ash could hear a familiar stubbornness in her tone. There was no arguing with her when she was like that; he'd learned that the hard way.

Brock opened his mouth, looking ready to give it a try anyway, but Gary interrupted the looming fight with, "We need to get moving."

They quickly finished packing and put out the fire.

Erika pulled Misty aside, and after a moment of speaking in low tones, they hugged each other goodbye. Ash and Gary said goodbye to Bruno and Agatha.

"Be careful," Bruno told them, clapping Ash on the back so hard that Brock winced from across the camp.

"Always are," Ash said, and Gary gave a disbelieving snort.

Ash shot him a look.

Then they were splitting up, Erika, Bruno, and Agatha heading south for the Safari Zone, while the rest of them headed west.

They made the trek toward Vermillion City in silence, picking their way through the forest at a much quicker pace than earlier. They no longer had Agatha to worry about, and since they were actually trying to be followed, they didn't need to concern themselves with covering their tracks or staying off of main roads. In fact they were steadily making their way to Route 11. Things still felt tense, however, and Ash wasn't stupid enough to think that just because they'd given them their weapons back that somehow they now magically trusted him. Or had forgiven him. He thought about trying to talk to them, especially as they passed an area he was pretty sure they'd once made camp in years ago on their first journey to Vermillion, but in the end, he couldn't bring himself to say anything. Why dredge up memories from back then - from a time where they'd never have imagined Ash would fall so far? Another lifetime it felt like.

It was Misty who broke the silence. "You know, walking all over Kanto didn't seem like that big of a deal when we were kids," she said once they finally hit Route 11.

Brock actually let out a laugh, which was almost startling, considering how serious they'd all been until that moment. "I know, I feel like I've been on my feet forever. How did we do it?"

Ash didn't know what to say, and silence fell over the group once more, until, to Ash's surprise, Gary spoke up with a smirk. "I didn't."

"Yeah, well not all of us had a convertible that came with a bunch of cheerleaders, Gary," Ash teased before he could stop himself.

Misty didn't seem to be able to hold back a laugh of her own, "How could I have forgotten about that!"

"It didn't come with cheerleaders," Gary replied, ignoring her laughter, which had actually made Brock laugh too. "I couldn't help it that they all wanted to be around my awesome presence."

"Pika!" Pikachu said from Ash's shoulder, feeling the need to chime in.

Ash couldn't help it, he started to laugh as well, which in turn made Gary grin. You'd think they were a group of friends just out for a walk.

The tension slowly disappeared as they continued up Route 11. They spent a while teasing Gary, but then moved on to other things, mostly reminiscing about the last time they'd walked down this road together. The moon was full enough to provide them with enough light to see by.

Ash pulled to a sudden stop after maybe an hour, grabbing Misty and Brock by the arm and tugging them off the road and into the edge of the woods. "Checkpoint."

It wasn't uncommon on larger routes to find a Team Rocket checkpoint. Giovanni didn't want people just coming and going as they pleased.

"Perfect," Gary said. "I was hoping we'd find one." Ash nodded.

"…What?" Misty said, and the laughter that had been in her tone only moments before had disappeared, replaced with disbelief. Ash glanced over at her, and she took a step back. "Is that what this was? An excuse to get backup?"

"Misty—" Ash said, realizing what she had thought they'd meant, but Gary interrupted him before he could finish.

"An excuse to get transportation," his partner said. "They'll have a vehicle we can 'borrow.'" He turned to look at her and Brock. "Look. I don't think you really get it. If we wanted to leave - hell, if we wanted to capture or kill you - we wouldn't need backup. We're on your damn side, all right?"

Ash made eye contact with her, and he could see her uncertainty. He let out a soft sigh, trying to tell himself that she had every right to doubt him, and that it was stupid to let it bother him. After a moment he said, "Stay here. I'll handle this."

Misty looked ready to protest, but something seemed to deflate in her, and she said nothing. Brock had been glancing between them all, looking like he was trying to figure out what to say, or maybe even decide who to trust. When Ash spoke though, he looked at Gary, clearly expecting an argument from him (probably based on how he had refused to let Ash come on his own in the first place).

Gary, however, nodded. "Distraction or backup?" he asked Ash, drawing a Beretta. He might be unwilling to let his partner wander off on what he considered a suicide mission, but Gary knew where Ash's strengths lay. Taking out a couple of sentries in a quiet and efficient manner wasn't exactly a difficult task for him.

"Backup," Ash replied, sliding the bo staff from his back. "Your distractions always seem to end in gunfire."

"What's more distracting than gunfire?" Gary asked.

Ash shook his head with a snort. "I'll be fifteen minutes." He looked at Pikachu, who seemed to know what his trainer wanted without him saying anything, and used his paws to open the bag on Ash's shoulders and hide inside. Ash slipped further into the woods, disappearing into the shadows, leaving Gary, Misty, and Brock to wait and listen for any sign of trouble.

Fifteen minutes almost to the second, the jeep they'd spotted earlier pulled to a stop next to them. "Need a lift?" Ash asked from the open window.

"Shotgun," Gary said.

He opened the passenger's side door, only to be met with Pikachu. "Pikachu, pika!" the yellow rodent said.

Gary never completely understood what Pikachu was saying, but he'd known him long enough to always get the gist. "Sorry rat," he said, moving to pick him up so he could sit. "I called it."

Before Gary could get his hands on him, Pikachu started to spark. "Chuuu..."

" I'd say he called it, Gary," Ash said with a grin as Brock and Misty slid into the back seat. Gary yanked his hand back, grumbling, and slid in the back next to them.

There was silence as Ash pulled a u-turn and headed for Vermillion.

It was Brock who started laughing, and soon Misty and Ash had joined in. "Shut up," Gary said, crossing his arms.

* * *

Stay out of cities. It was 'Evading Team Rocket 101'. Not that they didn't have ways to find you otherwise - Jessie and James were proof enough of that. But cities provided all sorts of extra challenges. They had cameras. They had curfews. They had regular patrols. So if you didn't want to be found by Team Rocket, you did your damnedest to remain as far away from any city you could.

But here they were, crouched in an alleyway of Vermillion City, waiting for the sun to finish setting and the guard at the docks to change.

"You know, it would have been a good time to quit smoking ," Ash said to Gary from beneath his hood as his partner lit up a cigarette. Gary had been thrilled to discover a pack in the glove compartment of the jeep. "You'd already been weeks without one. Toughest part was over."

"Sorry," Gary said, taking a long drag. "I can't hear you over the siren call of the nicotine."

Ash shook his head and they sat in silence for several minutes, waiting for the go ahead. It had started raining about an hour earlier, and in the distance thunder could be heard. It was the best cover Ash could have asked for.

"The guard just changed for the night." It was Misty's voice that was suddenly in both their ears.

"Copy that," Ash replied.

The checkpoint had proven useful for more than just transportation. After Ash had left the three sentries unconscious and tied together in the small booth that they used for when the weather got bad, he and Pikachu quickly went through everything they could find, looking for supplies. The earpieces that the sentries were wearing to communicate seemed particularly useful, so he'd grabbed them, as well as two of their black hooded jackets. Both Brock and Misty had their own traveling cloaks, but Ash and Gary hadn't had time to get most of their things during the ransacking of the Pewter Gym, and they would need something to cover their faces once they hit the city.

It was mid-afternoon the next day when they made it to Vermillion, each of them having taken turns driving so they all could get some sleep. Ash and Gary knew where the city's security was the weakest and they'd managed to get into the Vermillion without coming upon any checkpoints. They abandoned the jeep and made their way on foot when Ash had pointed out that eventually Team Rocket would be looking for the missing vehicle, and staying in it any longer than necessary would just lead their enemies right to them. Pikachu was hidden safely in the pack he'd stolen from Jessie and James.

"Shall we?" Gary said, stubbing out his cigarette on the brick wall next to them.

Ash nodded and stood.

Several buildings over, Brock and Misty were perched on a roof, using the binoculars Ash had "borrowed" from Jessie and James to keep watch. They were going to be the guides for Ash and Gary – their eyes and ears as they infiltrated the shipyard.

"I know we're trying to get their attention," Brock's voice came through the comm. "But are you sure you want to be this... obvious?"

"By the time Giovanni realizes we're here, we'll be gone," Ash said. "Pikachu. It's all you, my friend." The bag on his back shifted as Pikachu wiggled his way out and took his usual position on his trainer's shoulder. "You know what to do."

Pikachu nodded, answering in the affirmative with a determined sounding, "Chu." Then he bounded off his shoulder and used Agility, speeding off in a blur of yellow that disappeared into the darkness of the evening.

"I'm having trouble following him," Misty said.

"Don't worry," Ash replied. "You'll know when it's time for us to move."

Several minutes passed as they waited in silence. Then, rather suddenly, there was a deafening crack of thunder and the shipyard was lit up as a large bolt of lightning from the storm hit somewhere inside. Or at least that was how it looked.

"Uh…" Misty said, sounding a little surprised. "I think that's your cue."

Ash and Gary were already on the move, emerging from the alley and quickly making their way to the tall chain link fence that surrounded the shipyard. Pikachu's job was to knock out all of the power, which definitely seemed to have been handled. The shipyard had been cast into darkness, and Ash could hear yells as the guards tried to figure out what had happened. The distraction and lack of cameras, was enough to let them easily scale the now shorted out fence and drop to the other side with no one the wiser.

There were large shipping containers everywhere in the inside of the yard, which provided plenty of cover and made their path to their target a bit of a maze.

"There's movement heading your way," Misty said through the comm. "Looks like two men and some type of pokemon using a flame attack for light."

"It's a houndour," Brock said.

Ash flattened himself against the shipping container and Gary followed suit. "You take the houndour," he said quietly. "I'll handle the men. Gimmie a boost."

Gary nodded, lacing his fingers together to give him a foothold so Ash could hoist himself up on top of the container. Ash silently made his way to the edge, treading carefully so he didn't slip on the wet metal and peering over at the approaching patrol. There were two men, one shorter and wearing a ball cap, the other tall, with long hair pulled back into a ponytail. The dark dog-like pokemon with them suddenly paused, lifting his nose into the air and beginning to sniff.

"Ash, Gary, I think he's got your scent," Brock said. Sure enough the houndour began to growl and head toward their container.

There was a crack and a brief flash of light as a large biped pokemon with large ears and a horn on its nose appeared in front of the patrol. "Nidoqueen!" she grumbled, and the two Rockets took several steps backwards,

"Houndour!" the shorter man spoke, sounding as if he was about to command his pokemon to attack. Before he could, however, Ash dropped down behind him. He spun, lowering his center of gravity and using his bo to sweep the man's legs out from under him. The taller Rocket turned, one hand reaching for his poke belt, the other for his gun, but Ash was faster, and, without even stopping his momentum from his original spin, brought his staff up and caught him under the chin. The Rocket stumbled, but got his hand on his gun. Unfortunately for him he wasn't able to draw it before Ash readjusted his grip and shoved the end of his bo into his stomach, instantly knocking the wind out of him and dropping him to his knees.

The shorter one scrambled to his feet and reached for his comm unit, presumably to sound the alarm. Ash planted his foot and spun, hitting him in the chest with a hard roundhouse kick that knocked him right back to the ground. The houndour growled and turned its attention from the Nidoqueen, crouching low and launching himself at Ash, clearly trying to protect his trainer.

"Body Slam," Gary commanded his pokemon. Nidoqueen instantly threw herself onto the houndour, who let out a yelp.

The patrolman who'd been gasping for air tried for a second time to get his gun, thinking Ash was distracted by the pokemon that had been about to attack him, but Ash had trusted Gary to have the pokemon in hand, and hadn't taken his attention from the two Rockets. The Rocket appeared surprised as he was smashed in the head with Ash's bo. He slumped to the ground, unconscious. The houndour's trainer was struggling to get back to his feet, but stopped moving at the click of a safety, and found himself looking up into the barrel of Gary's gun.

"I'd stay down if I were you," Gary suggested.

The Rocket took the advice, staying still and lifting his hands in surrender. There was the sound of a whimper from beneath Nidoqueen, where the man's houndour was still stuck. "What do you want?" the Rocket asked.

"You'll see," Gary said, pulling back his hand and hitting him hard in the face with his pistol. The man went down, face first onto the wet pavement.

There was a small growl from Gary's Nidoqueen as the houndour bit her in an attempt to get free. Annoyed, she moved off of him enough to give him a hard Skull Bash, without even waiting for Gary's command. The houndour whimpered and fainted.

"Not bad," Misty said. "Doesn't look like you caught anyone else's attention yet."

"What say we cause some real panic?" Gary said after thanking and recalling his pokemon. He pushed down his hood and grinned at his partner. The rain had picked up and quickly started to flatten Gary's hair to his head.

"Panic?" Misty repeated. "I thought this was the part of the mission where you wanted to be stealthy?"

"There's more than one way to go unnoticed," Ash said as Gary knelt down and snagged a comm from one of the unconscious Rockets' belts.

"We're under attack!" Gary said into the comm. "West gate! Repeat we are under attack! It's Satoshi and Shigeru, they've got pokemon- AAAH!" He cut off the transmission and hooked the comm unit to his belt.

There was a pause, then Misty said, "They're moving west."

"How many?" Ash asked.

"Looks like… all of them."

"We've probably got less than ten minutes before they realize no one's there," Ash said. "Misty, Brock, time to move. Head through the east gate and meet us at the rendezvous."

"Let's go," Gary said.

Ash and Gary broke into a run, navigating the maze of shipping containers and heading toward _The Persian_, a giant freighter docked in the harbor. A few times they heard the sounds of Rockets running an aisle or two over, but they managed to avoid any other confrontations.

"Pikapi!" came a little voice as they finally made it to _The Persian_, and Pikachu sped up to them, not stopping until he had scampered back onto his favorite spot on Ash's shoulder.

"Great work, Pikachu," Ash said, and the pokemon "kaaa"d proudly.

"Onto phase two," Gary said.

* * *

Misty and Brock stood silently on the boat Ash and Gary had told them to meet at, hoods of their cloaks up and protecting their faces from the downpour. This boat was smaller than a lot of the ships at the dock, a mere fishing vessel that rocked quietly in the choppy water as they waited. Across the shipyard they could hear shouts, and Misty was pretty sure the Rockets had figured out that Satoshi and Shigeru weren't attacking - at least not at the West gate.

"We're at the rendezvous," she said into the comm unit she and Brock had been using to communicate with the two former Rockets. "Where are you guys?"

There was a long silence in which she and Brock exchanged a nervous look. Had they been duped? Led into some kind of elaborate trap? She wanted to trust Ash, she really did, but knowing that he'd spent the better part of the last decade working for the very group she'd thought had killed him was a hard and bitter pill to swallow. He'd lied. And he was no mere lackey. She watched him dispatch the Rocket's earlier, and when she closed her eyes at night she could still see him using his knives on the ones in the Pewter Gym. He knew how to kill, and Misty could tell this wasn't his first time taking a life.

If he'd been in the service of Team Rocket, how many innocent lives had he taken? How could the boy she knew all those years ago have become what she saw today? A skilled, hardened murder. How could she trust him when she felt like she barely knew him? He wasn't the person she'd once cared about.

The comm in her hand suddenly crackled to life with Ash's voice. "We're on our way, untie the boat, we've got less than three minutes."

"Three minutes before what?" Misty asked. That was another problem. Ash and Gary were clearly so used to working alone that they kept forgetting to let her and Brock in on what appeared to be vital parts of the plan. That or they were deliberately keeping them in the dark. Either way she didn't like it.

"Let's just say we don't want to be nearby," Gary replied.

Brock looked at her, and they both quickly set to work untying the ropes that held the boat to the dock. Misty looked perfectly at home on the water vessel, while Brock nearly slipped several times. They left one rope fastened so they didn't begin to drift away.

Two dark figures suddenly sped into view, sprinting toward the boat they were on. Brock and Misty both almost reached for their weapons, but they recognized the shape of Pikachu on one's shoulder. Neither Ash nor Gary slowed their pace as they approached, both jumping onto the boat, Ash pulling a dagger and immediately going to cut the last remaining rope, while Gary slid a bit on the wet deck before making straight for the steering column and turning on the engine. The Rocket's had clearly been confident about their security, because Misty had noticed when they boarded that the keys had been left in the ignition. Gary threw it into reverse and began to back them away from the dock.

"Over there!" someone called as the sound of the motor gave away their position.

Despite the dark, they could make out several silhouettes appearing from around the large shipping containers Ash and Gary had been weaving their way through earlier. Brock and Misty pulled their guns and Ash went over to take the wheel from Gary. Misty had noticed that Ash didn't carry any firearms, and she'd yet to see him even attempt to shoot one.

Ash worked on steering them away, Pikachu still on his shoulder, while Gary pulled one of his Berettas. The Rockets on the dock started firing, and Misty and Brock ducked down behind the rails on the deck for a bit of cover before returning fire. With the rocking and movement of the boat though, Misty was pretty sure they might as well be shooting at the water for all the good it seemed to be doing.

Three silhouettes suddenly dropped, and she glanced over at Gary, who was standing on the deck unconcerned with cover, looking focused, but still a little pleased with himself.

"Hang on!" Ash called, and Gary grabbed for a rail as the boat suddenly lurched to the right. He put it at full throttle, speeding out of the port and toward the open sea.

Misty was about to stand up, but there was suddenly a deafening boom and she and Brock's heads both snapped back to look at the shipyard, where the biggest ship, _The Persian, _was now only half visible. The rest of it was on fire.

When Misty looked back at them, Gary was grinning and holstering his gun. "I told you rerouting the fuel would work," he said to Ash.

"Remind me never to doubt your demolitions knowledge," Ash replied.

"Did you just blow up a freighter?" Brock asked.

"Yup," Gary said proudly. "A freighter full of weapons and supplies bound for Viridian City. _The Persian _is Giovanni's personal supply ship. He's gonna be pissed."

"That ought to get his attention," Ash added.

"You two are crazy," Misty said.

"Little bit," Gary agreed.

* * *

_A/N: Oh hey. I'm still writing. Crazy right? This one was kind of long but I had a lot I wanted to get through. I guess long is better than short, right?_


	7. Chapter 7

"Congratulations, Ash!" Misty cried, rushing up to the sixteen year old Pokemon League Champion and throwing her arms around his neck. She hadn't realized just how much she had missed him until she saw his face on the big screen looking more determined than she had ever seen him. She'd known he was going to win the whole thing, even from the very start, and she'd leaned over and told Brock as much.

"You might be right," their older friend had said. "I've never seen him look so serious."

Ash didn't react to her hug right away, and for a moment she had the stupidest fear that he'd completely forgotten her, but then she heard him breathe, "Misty," and his arms slid around her waist. He was hugging her so tightly she almost couldn't breathe, and she couldn't hide the smile that it drew from her, even though Ash wasn't able to see it, for he'd buried his head against the side of her neck.

It took a while before he let her go, and when he did, his expression surprised her. She thought he'd be happier. Instead he looked kind of sick.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he said, turning his hat back around so that the brim was in the front. It made her grin, seeing that nothing had changed. He still spun his hat backwards when battling, just like he had when he was ten. He took a breath and smiled at her. "Yeah, I'm great!"

Maybe if Misty had been traveling with him for the last couple of years she might have spotted something a little forced about his response, but she was just so pleased to see him, so glad to see his smile, she didn't even question it.

"That was an amazing battle," she told him.

"Gary put up a good fight," Ash agreed. A distance behind him, Misty could see Gary Oak, standing with his grandfather and sister, though he was staring grimly at Ash. Sore loser, maybe.

"So, how have you been?" she asked.

"Great." Misty tried not to be offended when she noticed Ash's attention was wandering, scanning the people in the crowd around them, several of whom had slapped him on the back and offered congratulations. And then, quite suddenly, his brown eyes were focused entirely on her. She sucked in a breath, caught off guard by the intensity of his gaze. "Misty, I-"

"Mr. Ketchum."

Something flickered in Ash's expression. Whatever he was about to say seemed to die in his throat. She found herself glaring at the tall woman who had interrupted him. She was dressed in black, with long dark hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. Ash looked up at her. "Yeah?"

"You're needed for an interview," she said.

Ash swallowed and nodded. "Okay. Great. Yeah. I'll talk to you later, Misty."

But Misty didn't see him again that day. In fact, she didn't hear from him again. A year later, she was told he was dead.

* * *

Misty found Ash sitting near the front of the boat, legs dangling over the side while his arms rested on the railings. They'd been traveling through the night, and once the morning rolled around the storm seemed to finally abate. The skies were clear and blue now, with nothing but fluffy white clouds as far as the eye could see.

Brock, ever the homemaker, had found several clothes pins and a line on which to hang their damp garments. Since Ash and Gary didn't have a change of clothing with them, they'd hung up their hooded jackets and shirts and Misty had spent the better part of the morning trying not to stare at Ash's toned torso.

"Hey," she said as she approached him from behind.

He glanced over his shoulder. "Hey."

They lapsed into silence until Misty finally said, "Can I join you?"

He looked a little surprised at that, and Misty couldn't really blame him. They hadn't exactly been treating him like an ally. Even now, with just the four of them, there still felt like there was a divide between Ash and Gary and her and Brock. "Sure," he said, turning his gaze back out to the ocean.

This was the first time since it had come out that Ash and Gary had been working for the enemy that Misty had been alone with him. Gary had taken over steering for a bit, and he was far enough away not to hear them over the wind, and Brock was below deck putting together a lunch for them.

Misty sat down next to Ash, letting her legs dangle off the side as well and watching the water for a bit. She felt more relaxed and at home here on this stolen fishing vessel than she had in years. For her the water had a way of making everything seem okay. Still, she found that now that she was sitting here, nearly shoulder to shoulder with her childhood friend, she didn't really know what to say.

"We should be there soon," she said, immediately feeling stupid. What a lame opener.

"Yeah," he replied with a nod, continuing to stare at the water.

Silence once again descended.

"Ash..." Misty said once she'd worked up the nerve. "I guess I just… I don't understand."

"Don't understand what?" he asked, and she noticed he was still avoiding looking at her.

"Why didn't you say something?" Giovanni had threatened his mother and Gary's family - that much was obvious. But the more she thought about it, the more angry she became. "You could have told us! We would have helped you!"

"How?" he replied.

His tone was so flat, and his expression was so utterly blank that she was thrown off for a moment. Her response sounded unsure, even to her ears. "We could have… protected your mom."

"Yeah?" he said. "And how would you have done that?"

"I don't know, Ash," Misty said, getting frustrated. "But you know if you had told me and Brock-"

"Then she'd probably be dead," he interrupted.

"So you just betrayed all your beliefs, without even considering asking your friends for help," she snapped, shaking her head in disgust.

Ash said nothing, still staring out to sea, and Misty, suddenly feeling like she'd never even really known him at all, stood and walked away.

She had been planning to go down below to help Brock, but when she spotted Gary taking a drag of a cigarette while he steered the boat, she veered off course and approached him.

"Can I get one of those?" she asked.

Gary's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Didn't know you smoked," he replied.

"Yeah, well, I guess there's a lot of things we all don't know about each other," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Gary studied her for a minute, his auburn hair being blown into his face by the wind. Misty's hair was still in a braid, which kept it from flying around too much. After a moment he pulled out the pack and lighter he'd gotten from the Team Rocket jeep and offered them to her.

Misty jammed a cigarette into her mouth and then set about inexpertly trying to light it. The wind kept blowing out the flame. Despite what she'd said, she'd never smoked in her life, and it was probably becoming pretty obvious to Gary as he watched her struggle. He reached out and tugged the lighter from her fingers, flicking it once and using his other hand to block the wind, which gave her enough time to light up.

She inhaled deeply, then started hacking.

Gary grinned as he pocketed the lighter. "Yeah, you're quite the experienced smoker, huh?"

"Shut up," Misty snapped once she'd stopped coughing. "I asked for a cigarette, not your opinion."

"Didn't you know, sweetheart?" Gary said with a smirk. "Got a one day special going on: buy one cigarette, get one opinion, no charge."

Misty shot him a glare and took another drag, only coughing a little bit this time. They stood in silence for a while, Gary steering and Misty puffing on the god awful cigarette.

"Tell me something," Misty said suddenly. "How did you get involved in all this? I mean, I understand Giovanni threatened your family. But why? Ash was the League Champion. So why did he come after you too?"

Gary glanced at her, his smug smirk slowly fading. He was quiet for long enough that Misty was starting to wonder if the jerk was even going to answer. Then he spoke. "Giovanni approached us both. Before Ash was the Champion. Made some not so subtle threats on our families. He said all he needed was one of us to become Champion and then be… compliant… with some policies that he wanted changed."

"Wait," Misty said, realization dawning. "So when you two were fighting that last battle-"

Gary shrugged, then exhaled a cloud of smoke. "Ash is a stubborn bastard. I told him I'd do it. But he wouldn't just let me win it, not even when winning meant having to do things he hated himself for. Probably thought he was protecting me or something."

Misty stared at Gary, processing his words. It sounded stupidly like something Ash would do. "And neither one of you thought to just tell someone?"

"We were told in no uncertain terms that if we said anything to anyone all bets were off." Gary took another drag of his own cigarette. "Looking back on it, I'm not sure how much of it was a bluff, I mean, he's got all of this capability now, but back then? Who knows. Giovanni, though, swore to us he had access to all phone calls made to the police. He said he'd tapped the phones of our families and friends - which is why Ash was afraid to tell you or Brock. He also told us we would be watched until the Pokemon League was completed. And after Ash won, the body guards he was assigned were Rocket Agents. He was essentially on communications lockdown, unless it was something Giovanni wanted to be said."

Misty fell quiet for a long while, considering the information. "And you? Couldn't you have told someone what was going on, once you'd lost?"

"I don't know if you've ever been followed for an extensive amount of time," he replied. "But at some point paranoia starts to set in. Everywhere you go you see people who may or may not be watching you. You hear clicks on your phone calls that you just assume is someone else listening. You see shadows by your windows at night. Even now, I couldn't tell you if there was anyone tailing me after the Pokemon League or not, but I wouldn't be surprised. Either way, Giovanni had me too scared to say a word."

It surprised Misty to hear him admit to having been scared. It just didn't seem very in character for him. But maybe that was what reminded her that at the time of the very last Pokemon League battle, both Ash and Gary had only been sixteen. Just kids, really.

She tried to think what she would have done and realized she wasn't entirely sure she would have come up with anything better. Before Giovanni's takeover none of them were really equipped with the knowledge they were now – she'd never fired a weapon, she wouldn't have even understood the purpose of a signal scrambler or how phone taps worked. This was all knowledge that had become necessary years after Ash and Gary had been approached by Giovanni.

Misty looked back over at Ash, who she could see was still sitting quietly on the bow. Pikachu scampered up the stairs – he'd been watching Brock cook, looking hopefully at the food when Misty had left them. He went over to his trainer and took a seat next to him. She watched as Ash absently reached out and scratched his favorite Pokemon behind the ears.

"He tries, you know," Gary said, and Misty pulled her gaze away from her old friend to look at him, realizing that Gary had been watching her watch Ash. "The goodhearted kid's still there. He's just kind of buried under a shit ton of guilt and regret." He finished his cigarette and stubbed it out on the sole of his shoe. "But he does what he can – like rushing to Pewter the night you were meeting that Rocket."

"You're saying I should just pretend like everything's the same as it used to be?" Misty asked. "Like you two aren't trained killers who until very recently were working for our enemies?"

Gary snorted. "All I'm saying is he's not evil. And he's spent enough years beating himself up about everything, so I'd appreciate it if you two would cut him a little bit of slack."

Misty said nothing, turning over the information in her mind. "And what about you?" she asked eventually.

"Me?"

"You said Ash isn't evil. What about you?"

Gary seemed a little taken aback by the question. Then he shrugged. "Guess it depends who you ask."

"I'm asking you."

"I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of," Gary replied after a few moments, but didn't add anything further.

Misty almost said that that wasn't an answer, but she realized it kind of was. She didn't think someone who enjoyed their line of work would regret their actions. She stubbed out her own cigarette, not wanting it anymore. Before she could word a reply, there was a loud bang and the boat suddenly shuddered as if it had hit something.

"What was that?" she asked, as both of Gary's hands went to the wheel.

"No idea," he replied.

Ash stood, quickly making his way back toward them, a frown on his face. Pikachu had leapt to his shoulder.

Brock's head appeared from the stairwell that made its way below deck. "Did we crash or something?" he asked.

Misty shook her head no, and as Ash went to the port side to peer into the water, she did the same on the starboard. "I don't see anything," she said. There wasn't even any debris.

"Me neither," Ash agreed.

"Well we're almost there," Gary said, nodding his head toward a mass of land on the horizon. In comparing notes, Bruno and Agatha discovered they had enough information to piece together that Lorelei had probably taken refuge in the caves below the Seafoam Islands.

They didn't have much time to take in the island, however, because the boat was suddenly rocked so hard that all four of them needed to grab onto something to avoid being knocked off their feet.

"Okay, that wasn't us hitting something," Gary said. "That was something hitting _us_."

"But, what?" Misty asked, once again peering over the railing.

"Uh." It was Ash. "I think I know."

Misty turned around and saw what Ash was staring at. From the sea an enormous gyrados had risen, large angry eyes glaring down at them. What made it especially intimidating was its bright red color. Misty had seen a red gyrados before and from what she remembered, this really wasn't the kind of pokemon you wanted to encounter in the middle of the ocean on a small fishing boat.

The gyrados let out a loud roar and opened his mouth. "Everyone hang on!" Misty said, recognizing the beginning of a hydo pump attack when she saw one. Gary ducked to the side of the steering console, bracing himself against it, while Brock, who hadn't fully emerged on the deck, disappeared back down the stairs. Misty took hold of the railing she stood by, and Ash grabbed onto the one nearest him.

The water attack hit the port side of the boat, shoving it sideways at least fifteen yards. Water also crashed over the deck, soaking them once more, hard enough that Misty was certain they'd have been swept overboard if they hadn't been holding on.

"Pikachu!" she heard Ash cry.

Misty managed to look up, seeing that Pikachu was having trouble holding onto Ash's shoulder. She watched in near disbelief as Ash let go of the railing, grabbing his pokemon and clutching him to his chest. Unfortunately, the water was too strong and it knocked him off his feet and shoved him roughly across the boat.

"Ash!" Misty exclaimed. His back hit the metal railing near her, hard enough that she could hear the impact over the rush of water.

The attack finally ceased and the gyrados let out another loud roar, diving back into the water. The boat shook again violently as it was attacked, and Ash, who had gotten halfway to his feet, lost his footing on the wet deck and went down again, Pikachu still cradled protectively in his arms.

Then it was quiet, just for a moment.

The boat jolted, but it wasn't the same as before – it didn't feel like the gyrados had struck it. It felt like the water was moving it. Misty, dread filling her, peered over the side in time to see a red streak swim by. And again. And again. The boat was slowly starting to turn as the gyrados circled them.

"It's a Whirlpool attack!" she yelled.

Ash reached for a pokeball, not even bothering to stand, and released his charizard.

"Don't you think Pikachu would be a better idea here?" Brock asked as he ran onto the deck now that the hydro pump was over, weaving unsteadily until he could grab a railing.

"He needs a better angle, and a steadier floor," Ash said. The boat had done a full circle, and was starting to spin faster. To Charizard he said, "Can you give him a lift?"

The dragon pokemon snorted an agreement, and Pikachu leapt onto his back. Charizard took flight from the boat and Misty continued to hang on tightly, because with the way they were spinning, things were starting to feel like some kind of awful carnival ride.

"Pikachu!" Ash called, grabbing onto the railing as well and yanking himself to his feet. "Charge beam!" Pikachu called out what Misty assumed was an agreement, and started to charge up on Charizard's back.

"Hurry up, Ash!" Gary called, looking a little green, but still firmly braced against the steering console.

"PIIIIKAAAACHUUUU!" the yellow pokemon suddenly screamed, aiming a supercharged beam of electricity down into the water, and somehow managing to hit the gyrados, despite the speed it was moving.

Unfortunately that wasn't quite enough to faint it, and with a loud angry roar it burst to the surface again, right under the starboard side, pushing the ship so that was tilted up almost vertically. Misty felt her grip loosening, and with a scream she started to fall toward the other side of the boat, but her momentum stopped when a hand snatched her by the back of her shirt. She looked up and saw Ash, who was now holding on with only one arm, gritting his teeth as he concentrated on not dropping her.

The gyrados moved and the boat quite suddenly dropped back to its normal positioning, which left Misty lying on the deck. It hit the water so hard, however, it jarred Ash's one armed grip loose. Misty felt herself start to be pulled as Ash slipped under the rail and off the side, but instead of dragging her with him he let her go.

"Ash!" she screamed over the roar of the gyrados, turning over and scrambling to the edge, looking down off the side. She spotted him in the water for a moment, but the Whirlpool attack hadn't yet stopped. The boat was still turning, and she watched with wide blue eyes as Ash disappeared under the surf, but wasn't able to keep track of him as they spun around again.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu called. The red gyrados was flailing around in the surf, but seemed to get his bearings after a moment, turning his attention on the two pokemon hovering above him. He began what looked like a hyper beam attack, but Pikachu sparked dangerously after he lost sight of his trainer, and unleashed the most powerful Thunder attack that Misty had ever seen.

The gyrados was pummeled with electricity for a good thirty seconds, and when the attack stopped, it slumped into the water, unconscious.

The whirlpool finally slowed to a stop and the boat stilled.

"Ash!" Gary's voice called. Once the boat stopped spinning he was able to get to his feet, teetering a bit from dizziness, but making his way over to where Misty was still clinging to the railing and looking frantically over the side. "Where did he go?" he asked her.

"The current took him!" Misty said. "The whirlpool—"

"Over here!" Brock called, looking over the railing on the port side. Misty and Gary ran across the deck, and looked at what Brock was pointing at. It was Ash's poke belt, floating next to the ship.

Gary and Misty moved at the same time. Gary kicked off his shoes and dove into the water, and Misty reached for the only pokeball on her belt – the one Ash had thrown her that night in the alley, before she'd even realized it was him.

With a crack Misty released a star shaped pokemon. She hadn't believed her luck when they'd discovered that the Rocket they'd gotten the pokemon from had a Staryu. Fortunately, the Rocket mustn't have been a very good trainer, because all six of the pokemon had responded well to the idea that they now belonged to someone else.

"Staryu, can I get a ride?" she asked, and the pokemon made an agreeing sort of noise. She climbed on and directed it into the water, and they dropped under the waves to look for Ash. For a moment all Misty could see was the red gyrados slowly sinking into the depths, then Gary swimming around as he looked for his partner.

If the whirlpool had drug him down, he might be much further down than they were currently swimming. She leaned against Staryu, urging him downward, and he sped through the water, deeper into the depths. It got darker the further they went, and Misty was starting to fear that she'd never see him. She could feel her lungs starting to burn from lack of oxygen and knew she would need to surface soon when she spotted a silhouette, just a little further out of her reach. She directed Staryu toward him. He was unconscious (she hoped). She grabbed him around the waist and tugged at Staryu to take them to the surface. The pokemon seemed to sense her urgency and shot up so quickly she almost lost her hold on Ash.

Gary had also just come up for air, and when he spotted her with Ash he swam quickly over and helped her get him to the ship. Brock reached down and took hold of the limp man's form, dragging him onto the deck.

Misty, an avid swimmer and water trainer, was quite adept at CPR. She scrambled up the ladder and to Ash's side, taking a quick assessment. "He's not breathing."

There was no time to panic. She started compressions on his chest, then pinched his nose closed and breathed air into his lungs. There was a tense silence on the boat as Brock and Gary silently watched her work. Charizard had landed on the deck and was snorting, disgruntled, and Pikachu had run over, sitting at his trainer's side.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, though it couldn't have been more than a minute, Ash suddenly choked up a lot of seawater. Misty, with the help of Brock, turned him onto his side until he got it out, and then the poor guy started coughing.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu said happily, jumping onto him, and Misty looked up as Gary let out a sigh of relief.

Ash sat up, brushing his wet hair out of his eyes and Pikachu settled in his lap. "What happened to the gyrados?" he asked, looking between the three of them.

Instead of an answer, however, he got a sopping wet Misty, who threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. She didn't see his shocked expression, which somehow managed to get more surprised when Brock reached out and fondly ruffled his hair.

* * *

"It's like you're trouble prone," Gary said to Ash as they docked on the island and exited the boat several hours later.

"He is," Brock said, climbing off of the boat after them. "Even when we were kids."

"What is this, gang up on the guy who almost drowned day?" Ash asked. "For once that wasn't even me doing something stupid. It's not like I goaded Lance's gyrados to attack us."

"I know, but you've got to admit you've got terrible luck," Gary replied, right as Misty said, "Lance's gyrados?"

"Didn't you recognize it?" Ash asked, reaching a hand out to help her off the ship. "That's the red gyrados he caught years ago. It's actually a good sign, it means that Lorelei's probably here. I'd bet he left it to protect her."

"You know," Misty said thoughtfully. "A few years ago I heard that the reason no one comes out here anymore is because there's a sea monster that had begun sinking ships that came near the islands. I just figured it was sailor superstition, but it must have been the gyrados."

"Makes sense," Gary said. "Without pokemon, anyone who ran into that thing would have been a sitting psyduck."

They walked off the dock, which had no other boats tethered to it, and indeed the island looked like it had been undisturbed for quite some time.

"If she is down in those caves, how are we going to find her?" Brock asked as they started walking along the sandy beach. There was an entrance to the caves about a hundred meters away, if Ash remembered correctly. "It could take days."

"I know the caves pretty well," Misty reminded him. "I used to train in them."

"I'm pretty familiar with them too," Ash said.

"Are you?" Gary asked, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, I spent a long time down there after we split up," he said to Brock and Misty then looked at Gary. "And before you and I started traveling together."

"Doing what?" Gary asked.

"Looking for Articuno," Ash replied.

Gary snorted. "Of course you were."

"It's got to be a legend that it has a nest down there," Misty said. "I sure never saw it."

Ash shrugged.

Gary looked at his partner, shaking his head. "You found it, didn't you?" When Ash's lips tilted into a small smile, he said, "Of course you did."

The caves were dark and the temperature dropped quite noticeably as they entered. Ash was glad their clothes had had a chance to dry off before they'd hit the shore.

"Pikachu," Ash said, and without him having to state the command, the pokemon used his flash ability, lighting up the area. The walls had ice running down them, a few small icicles hanging from above. They had no choice for fifty meters but to move forward, but as the caves opened up, more options presented themselves – tunnels leading off to the left or right.

"Is this place as big as Rock Tunnel?" Gary asked. Ash could see his breath as he spoke. "Because we could be here for months trying to find her."

Ash pulled to a stop, looking thoughtful. "Not that big. But there are a lot of places she might have chosen to hide."

"Maybe we should split up," Gary suggested. "Cover more ground." There still had been no word of their families, and Ash was sure he wanted to take care of this as quickly as possible and get to the Safari Zone. He couldn't help but feel the same way.

"I have no idea where I'm going in here," Brock pointed out. "I'll just get myself lost."

"Misty and I do," Ash said. "We can split into groups of two."

Gary automatically stepped next to his friend, and all three of them looked surprised when Ash continued. "I'll go with Brock, Gary you go with Misty." At their questioning expressions he explained, "You and I have the most pokemon – it makes sense to split up." The most pokemon and the better training. He'd yet to see Misty or Brock in a fight, but he knew Gary's capabilities and trusted him to protect her if something went wrong.

Gary seemed to understand his thinking, and nodded. "The comms might stop working the deeper we get."

"We'll meet you by the entrance to the cave in three hours," Ash said. "It shouldn't take us any longer than that to comb through here."

"Be careful," Misty told Ash and Brock.

Brock was frowning when Ash turned to him. "Ready?" he asked the older man, who shot a glance over at Misty.

"Yeah," Brock said. "Let's go."

They took a passageway to the left and Gary and Misty went right.

* * *

Silence had fallen in the hour they'd been searching; the only noise accompanying their walk was the sound of their boots hitting the stone beneath them. Brock's gaze was on the darkness ahead of them, just out of the range of Pikachu's flash and his eyes looked even more narrowed than usual.

"Chu, pika chupi," Pikachu piped up from Ash's shoulder. Brock didn't know what the pokemon had said, but Ash reached up and scratched him behind the ear, earning a pleased, "Chaaa" at the action.

"Okay, what is it?" Ash suddenly asked. His voice echoed slightly off the cave walls.

Brock looked down at him in surprise. Ash had grown over the years, but he hadn't quite matched his height, even now. "What?" he asked.

"You're acting tenser than usual around me," Ash said. The former rocket was looking straight ahead, almost as if he was deliberately avoiding eye contact with him. "Which is saying something, considering how tense you usually are."

"I'm not usually tens—" Ash's eyebrows shot up in disbelief and Brock stopped, sighed and amended his response. "I guess I am, a bit, huh?"

"Yeah. Well." Ash shrugged, as if he took no offense to Brock acting that way. He still wasn't looking at him. "Can't really blame you."

It sounded – not necessarily rehearsed – but as if the phrase was one he'd been saying a lot. Brock couldn't help but wonder if it was something Ash had taken to telling himself. For the first time, he considered things from his perspective. Traveling with two people you'd once thought of as your best friends and knowing that they were unable to really trust you and that they were actually wondering if you'd have killed them if the chance had presented itself. Because Brock hated to admit it, but when the truth about Ash and Gary had come out, the question _had_ crossed his mind.

"I'm just worried about splitting up," Brock said eventually.

Ash's brown eyes finally flickered looked over at him, just briefly. "It's more efficient."

"I know," Brock said.

There was another pause. "You wanted to go with Misty."

"No, I just—"

"Didn't want to march into an unknown cave with me?" Ash tried. He didn't even sound upset. Just sort of resigned. "Would it make you feel better if you had your gun on me?"

It struck Brock then just how shitty they must have been treating Ash, that he'd calmly suggest that as an option. That walking with a gun at his back seemed like a good way to alleviate Brock's trust issues. He supposed they _had_ been treating him more as a prisoner than an ally for the first chunk of this journey.

"Ash, no," he said firmly. "It's not that. First of all, you could probably disarm me faster than I could fire—"

"I wouldn't—"

Brock held up a hand to stop him. "I know you wouldn't," he assured him, and he realized as he said the words just how much he truly believed them. "Gary's right. If you'd wanted to do something, our stupid security precautions wouldn't have stopped you. I saw you take down those guards in the shipyard. You could have kicked all of our asses at any time, taken your weapons and pokemon and been gone before we knew what had happened. You and Gary could even have disappeared in the shipyard and left us high and dry on that boat. The fact that you're still here says a lot. I'm not worried about you. I'm… worried about Misty."

Ash looked a little dumbfounded at his words, surprised maybe, that Brock was saying that he didn't consider him a threat. Then his expression became more certain as he said, "You don't need to worry about Misty. She's with Gary." Brock's frown returned and Ash seemed to finally understand. "You're worried about Misty _because _she's with Gary."

It was true. Brock wasn't sure if it was because he'd known Ash as a kid and he'd seen what kind of heart he'd had, but thinking back on it, deep down part of him had always been sure that Ash would never harm him and especially wouldn't harm Misty. Gary, however, was a wildcard. He'd been kind of a shit the few times Brock had met him, and that hadn't seemed to have changed much. He was also very obviously unhappy with their situation, and Brock was fairly certain he was only sticking around because of Ash.

"I know you don't have any reason to trust either of us," Ash said, and Brock couldn't help but think that wasn't entirely true. They'd both put their asses on the line when Team Rocket had attacked the gym, they'd led them to Bruno, helped them locate Agatha, Ash had saved him from Bruno's onix, and Misty from falling from the boat when Lance's gyrados had attacked. "But, I sent Gary with Misty because I know he'll protect her. There's nobody I'd trust with my life more." Pikachu let out a noise that sounded indignant, so Ash added, "Except Pikachu." The pokemon seemed appeased. "She'll be safe with him."

The sincerity in his words was what finally put Brock at ease. "All right," he said. "All right. Let's focus on finding Lorelei and getting out of here. It's freezing."

Ash gave a small smile, nodded, and continued to lead the way down the tunnel.

In another tunnel, far from them, Gary was slowly pulling a gun.

* * *

_A/N: Who doesn't love a nice cliffhanger now and again? Heh, heh, heh – don't hurt me._


	8. Chapter 8

When Gary's hand closed over her mouth, Misty tried to let out a scream. He tugged her backward and she struggled against him, but his other arm had wrapped around her waist and held her firmly. Misty, however, had taken a few self defense classes in her day, so she lifted her boot and brought it down hard on his foot. Right before grabbing her he had recalled Umbreon, who had been their only source of light, so Misty had had to make an educated guess on where to aim.

"Ow shit!"

Nailed it.

But Gary's grip didn't loosen. He backed them both into a tunnel that was off the main one she'd been leading them down. Why had she agreed to go with him? He was going to kill her and leave her for dead in these godforsaken tunnels. He shoved her back against the rocky wall, though it wasn't as rough as push as it could have been, hand still over her mouth.

"Calm down, and shut up," he said in a harsh whisper. "We're not alone."

This gave her pause, and she ceased her struggling. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she could see Gary's face in front of her, expression serious, but not menacing. Misty's eyebrows raised and she glanced down at the hand on her mouth, then back up at Gary. He seemed to get the hint and slowly let it drop, once he appeared sure she wasn't going to make a lot of noise.

Misty socked him in the stomach.

He let out a quiet but surprised groan as he doubled over. "The _hell_?" he hissed.

"Next time just say something," Misty growled back, shaking out her fist. She'd seen him with his shirt off, she'd basically just punched pure muscle and her knuckles were not happy about it.

"That's a hell of a thank you," Gary muttered, straightening.

Misty opened her mouth to retort a response about not needing to thank him for manhandling her, but the sudden sound of voices caused the words to die in her throat. Gary yanked her down so they were both crouching behind a large rock that jutted out into the tunnel.

"Stop." The sound of several footsteps came to a halt. "Did you hear that?" It was a woman speaking. From the edge of the tunnel a light shone, though Misty didn't dare try to see what the source was.

"No, Ma'am," was the response.

"Take your growlithe and check the tunnel," the woman commanded. Definitely Rockets if they had pokemon.

Misty and Gary exchanged glances as the male voice responded, "Yes, Ma'am," and the light began to move in their direction. Gary slowly drew a Beretta.

Both of her hands lowered, one to the holster on her hip, the other to the pokeball on her belt. They could put up a stand, though it made her uneasy not knowing how many Rockets there were.

Gary glanced over his shoulder at her and gave a small shake of his head, as if he didn't want Misty's help. Her eyebrows raised, silently asking him why. He tilted his head toward the dark tunnel behind them, and she realized he was telling her to make a run for it. She frowned and shook her head. Firstly, she wasn't looking to get shot in the back, secondly, the idea of leaving him to fight off an unknown force of Rockets on his own wasn't sitting right with her. She'd left Ash in the gym and he'd nearly been killed by some giant mutant pokemon.

He rolled his eyes, then jerked a thumb over his shoulder in another attempt to get her to go.

The light was getting closer, and Misty could hear the sound of the growlithe's claws clicking on the stone. She pulled her gun as quietly as she could. There was a sniffing noise, followed by a low growl.

Gary shot her a look, then shook his head in disgust, but it was too late now, they'd been detected. He grabbed a pokeball from his belt and released it. His skarmory appeared with a shriek, and there was suddenly chaos in the tunnel.

"Skarmory – whirlwind!" Gary commanded, as the Rocket's ahead of them started shouting.

The sharp voice of the woman carried over them all. "That's Shigeru," she said. "Take him down."

Misty poked her head up above the boulder they'd been ducked behind. It was difficult to get an exact count with the skarmory in between them and the group of Rockets, but she could see four including the guy that had come to check the tunnel with his growlithe. The woman had long blonde hair, and was watching the man in the tunnel backpedal from the big metal bird with an expression of disgust. She looked a little familiar, but Misty didn't have time to ponder it, as the other four men pulled handguns and began firing at the bird pokemon.

The woman, however, abruptly made eye contact with her. Misty stared, and the Rocket grinned as she pulled out her own pistol and took aim.

"Get down, idiot!" Gary said, yanking her back behind the boulder as the bullet whizzed by them.

"Who are you calling an idiot, jerk!" Misty retorted.

The sound of bullets pinging off skarmory's metal wings echoed off the high ceiling of the tunnel. The pokemon screeched and began his whirlwind attack, taking flight and flapping his wings hard, aiming a powerful gust at the Rockets.

"Growlithe, flame burst!" the growlithe's trainer managed to call out. The pokemon attacked and Misty and Gary had to duck further behind the rock as flames passed by.

Once the flame attack stopped, Gary leaned around the side of the boulder and squeezed off a shot. There was a scream and a thud as someone hit the ground. He fired again, and there was no accompanying scream, but Misty could hear the sound of another body dropping.

A hail of gunfire came their way, and by the sound of it it was an automatic weapon, not just a handgun. Gary ducked back behind their cover and let out a string of curses.

"This isn't going to work," he said to her.

"You just took down two, didn't you?" Misty said. "That means there's two left and one pokemon to deal with."

Gary shook his head. "The two I shot were immediately replaced – I think she's got a whole squad with her, we just can't see them all from this vantage point."

The woman yelled for a cease fire, and told her man to have his growlithe stand down. "Give it up, Shigeru!" she called. "You're outnumbered, and I don't see your boyfriend with you, so I think that means you're also outmatched."

"Just because my partner's prettier than yours, Yamato, doesn't mean I'm dating him," Gary called back.

"Friend of yours?" Misty asked as Yamato gave a shrill laugh.

"Cassidy – codename Yamato," he told her. "An arrogant, dangerous, bitch."

"_Cassidy_?" Misty repeated. "As in that blonde who used to chase us around with that green haired guy? What the hell was his name? Botch?"

Gary started laughing. "Butch. His codename's Kosaburō, but no one can remember that either. Voice is like nails on a chalkboard, but he's one hell of a shot. Not as good as I am, but nothing to laugh at either."

Misty rolled her eyes at his ego.

"Make it easy on yourself, Shigeru," Cassidy said. "Surrender and I'll even let you stay alive long enough to see your family."

Gary's hand tightened around the butt of his gun and he moved as if he was going to stand. Misty reached out and gripped his arm. "What are you doing?" she hissed. "She's trying to bait you!"

He looked at her, clenching his jaw, but stayed where he was.

"That's right, Shigeru," Cassidy said, voice lilting and sweet, despite the undercurrent of a threat. "The good professor? Your sweet sister? They're enjoying a nice stay with us. Down in the holding cells – you know the ones I mean? Where Ivy dumps her rejects."

Gary had tugged his arm from Misty's grasp and stood before she could stop him, pulling his second gun as he did. He took aim with them both and began firing. Misty stared up at his face in a state of shock – she'd never seen a look of such hate before. The Rockets began to fire back, and in a split second she made her decision. She peered over the boulder, using it for cover rather than standing like Gary had, and began firing off her own shots. Gary took four down before Misty had even begun shooting, but the ranks were filled again by more Rockets, all toting machine guns. This wasn't good.

Cassidy was no longer in view, but Misty thought she could hear her laughing over the sound of gunfire. Gary shot two more before one sprayed a hail of bullets dangerously close to them. Misty ducked, and, realizing Gary hadn't done the same, reached up and grabbed his jacket, yanking him down roughly.

"Get off of me!" he said, struggling to get back to his feet.

"No – you're going to get yourself shot!" she said. "If you're dead what reason do they have to keep Professor Oak and May alive!"

It was the right thing to say. Gary blinked, breathing hard as the anger seemed to abate, slowly being replaced with what Misty hoped was common sense.

"You know," Cassidy called. "I suppose we only need one of them. What do you say we do a little trade?"

Gary's whole body tensed and Misty put a hand on his shoulder. "They might not even have them," she whispered. "It could be a bluff, Gary."

"I'll give you back your sister," Cassidy said, and Misty could almost hear the smirk in her voice. "If you give me the girl you've got with you."

Gary's head slowly turned to Misty. She swallowed, and when she realized her hand had begun to tremble, she let it drop from his shoulder.

* * *

Ash and Brock's search for Lorelei had turned up nothing. It was almost time to meet Gary and Misty at the entrance, and he hoped the two of them had had better luck, otherwise he wasn't really sure what their next step would be.

Pikachu sniffed at the air as they got closer to the block of sunlight streaming in from outside. His ears flattened and he let out a quiet, "Chu… pika. Pi-chu."

Ash pulled to an abrupt stop, and Brock nearly collided into him.

"Are you sure?" he asked his pokemon.

"Pi."

"What's going on?" Brock asked with a frown.

Ash reached behind him and pulled his bo from its holster. "Pikachu smells blood."

"_Blood_?" Brock said. "Who's blood?"

"I don't know," Ash said, stalking toward the entrance. Of the two people currently unaccounted for, he didn't know what he would do if that blood belonged to either of them. Brock said nothing further, pulling his gun and following Ash.

As they approached the daylight, Ash could see the blood Pikachu had smelled, there was a long trail of it leading out to the sandy beach. It looked like puddles, not a smear, which at least meant the person had probably walked instead of being dragged.

Silently waving Brock to stay back, he flattened himself against the edge of the entrance and slowly leaned out so he could see if there were any enemies waiting for him.

"That you, Satoshi?" a cheerful female voice called. The sun was bright after hours in the cave, and it was behind her, so when Ash looked, she was just a silhouette, he couldn't make out any features. It didn't matter though, he knew her voice.

"Shit," he muttered, quickly pulling his head back so it wasn't a target.

"Oh come on now," she said. "Don't be shy. I have a friend of yours here who'd like to say hello!"

"Who's that?" Brock said. "Who does she have?"

"It's Cassidy," Ash replied grimly. "And I can't tell."

"Cassidy? Like Cassidy and Buck?" Brock asked. "Those team Rocket grunts that were only slightly more competent than Jesse and James?"

"Butch," Ash corrected. "And they've improved since you knew them. Cassidy's a fan of making a mess. Particularly of people." His eyes found the blood on the ground. "And Butch is probably hiding somewhere with a rifle. Which is a huge problem."

"Satoshi," Cassidy called again. "You aren't going to keep us waiting, are you?"

"Who's us?" Ash called back, wondering why she only had one of his friends, which one it was, and what had happened to the other.

"What and ruin the surprise? Wheres the fun in that?" Cassidy was clearly enjoying herself. That didn't bode well, in Ash's opinion.

"What do we do?" Brock asked.

"Satoshi, I'm starting to get bored," Cassidy said. "I might just have to start playing with my new toy here."

Ash grit his teeth. "You stay here," he told Brock. "She doesn't know you're here and it's me she wants."

"Yeah, it's you she wants dead," Brock replied. "And you just said Butch is somewhere sharpshooting. This is bait to draw you out and put a bullet in your back."

"Probably," Ash said.

"What do you think?" Cassidy asked, grinning down at her captive. "Maybe he's planning to leave you to your fate."

* * *

Gary, from his position on his knees in front of her, glared at the sand. If there hadn't been some dead Rocket's sleeve tied around his mouth as a makeshift gag, he would have told her that he certainly hoped that was the case. Ash would know the obvious trap for what it was. There was no way he'd just walk out into it.

His hands were tied tightly behind his back, which really wasn't helping the throbbing pain caused by the fucking bullet lodged in his shoulder. The wound was still bleeding, saturating his shirt and dripping down to form a red stain in the sand below him. It occurred to him, in a detached sort of way, that that probably wasn't good.

At least Misty had gotten away.

Spread out behind Cassidy were ten more rockets, all with automatic weapons at the ready and a pokemon at their side. They weren't taking any chances.

"I'll start with the fingers!" he heard Cassidy yell to his partner. He glanced over his shoulder and watched as she reached into her boot and extracted a long, sharp looking hunting knife. "You don't need those trigger fingers, right?" she asked Gary, smiling darkly as she crouched down behind him and grabbed his hands.

"Cassidy!"

The blonde took her attention off of Gary, who also turned forward at the sound of the voice.

The sun was beating down on them, hot and relentless. He was sweating, and his vision was starting to swim from the heat, pain, and blood loss. Surely he was just hallucinating the figure walking toward them, arms raised in surrender. Gary tried to yell out to him - call him an idiot, give him a warning, anything, but he just choked on the gag.

A wind had picked up, catching loose sand from the beach and blowing it around. It made it harder to see Ash as he came closer. Gary knew Butch was behind him somewhere, probably camouflaged in the rocky hill that rose up behind the entrance to the tunnels. He waited for a shot.

The sand was getting thicker; the closer Ash got, the harder he was to see. The wind was blowing faster now – in fact, it almost didn't seem natural. Right around the time Gary realized it, Cassidy apparently did too. She grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked his head back, pressing the knife against his neck and yelling over the wind. "You come any closer, and I'll have to slit his throat."

Despite the real chance of death – Cassidy would do it, of that he had no doubt – Gary couldn't help but smirk. That threat was a sign of fear, no matter how steady her voice and hand were. She knew better than to let Ash get up close and personal. That's why the plan had been to draw him out into the open and have Butch take care of him before he got the opportunity. If that failed, there were ten armed Rocket's ready to take him down.

But now a sandstorm had begun raging, and suddenly it was almost impossible to see their target.

"Do you hear me, Satoshi?" Cassidy called.

There was no response. Gary could hear the Rockets' pokemon making noises of pain and displeasure because of the storm.

"Kill him!" she yelled to her men.

Gunfire filled the beach.

* * *

Ash used the cover of Graveler's sandstorm attack to slip unnoticed behind the Team Rocket squad, so by the time they began shooting into the storm, he wasn't actually in any danger. He didn't have much time, Cassidy would make good on her threat to kill Gary if he didn't do this quick.

It was the screeching and whimpering of the Rockets' pokemon that allowed Ash to locate them before the shooting had begun. By the time Cassidy had commanded them to fire, he'd already killed two of her men, silently slipping behind them, covering their mouths and swiftly slitting their throats with a dagger. He used the pokeballs on their belts to recall the pokemon before they could attack him, though an angry Pidgey managed peck him a few times before he'd been able to get him back in.

"Did we get him?" Ash heard a Rocket call from his right.

He started to make his way toward the voice when a low growl came from behind him. He spun, spotting what looked like a houndour a few feet away. It began to bark and leapt for him without much warning. Ash spun out of the way and the dog pokemon sailed right past him, then skidded to a stop, turned around and charged again. "Dour!"

Cassidy's laugh rose above the wind. "According to Houndour, no," she said. "You didn't."

Ash dove to the side as the houndour's jaws snapped at his leg, he rolled gracefully into a crouch and reached into his belt to release a pokemon.

"Muk!" the purple blob said, instantly attaching itself to Ash in attempt to hug him.

"Muk, ack, come on!" Ash said, trying to crawl away as the pokemon knocked him off balance and onto the ground. Maybe he should have thought this choice through. The houndour, however, was mid-lunge when his target was suddenly enveloped in the purple slime, so his jaws sunk into Muk rather than Ash – which had really been Ash's intention.

"Muk?" it said, curious about the pokemon that was now attached to it. Muk slipped off of Ash, who was going to need a shower after that stink bath, and lifted its arm to look at the houndour, who was still clamped onto his side. "Muk!"

As if the houndour was actually a puppy Ash had just bestowed on it, the purple pokemon wrapped its arms around his neck and hugged him happily. The houndour squirmed in an attempt to get away, but Muk seemed to have everything under control, and Ash got to his feet as the dog pokemon started howling.

"Houndour!" Cassidy called through the sand. "Satoshi! What did you do to him?"

Not good. Cassidy hadn't exactly become more stable as she'd risen through the ranks of Team Rocket. He unsheathed his second dagger and veered from his original course for the Rocket grunt, following the sound of her voice. He needed to get to Gary before –

The scream of pain was muffled, but loud enough that even over the whipping wind, Ash heard it. His heart jumped to his throat, pounding painfully as he took the next several meters at a sprint. The wind started to die down, Graveler's attack almost at its end. Ash was finally able to see Cassidy, blonde hair whipping around her face, grinning as she put her foot on Gary's back and kicked him forward, the long dagger in her hand coming away bloody. His friend fell face first into the sand and was still.

She looked up, spotting Ash, and the grin on her face became twisted and manic. "Sorry – was he important?" she said. Her pistol was in her other hand and she aimed at Ash's heart.

Ash didn't slow his approach, and that seemed to wipe away some of her original smugness. With a scream of frustration, she began emptying her clip at him, but he spun and kept coming. When he reached her, he planted his foot and twisted in a roundhouse kick, knocking the gun from her hand with ease. He brought his knife around to try and slash at her, but in a move of panicked desperation she managed to bring up her dagger to parry. It didn't matter, however, because he had a second one. She backpedaled, trying to put some distance between them, but Ash stayed on her, and it was very quickly becoming obvious that she was simply no match for him speed or skill wise.

They'd both known this – it was why she'd used Gary as bait in the first place.

Ash ducked as she made a swipe at him and swept her feet out from under her with his leg. He was on her in an instant, swinging his blades for her chest. She put her arms up to block him and they struggled with one another for several moments as she desperately tried to keep him from finishing his motion.

A shot rang out. Ash felt a white hot pain shoot up his arm and the force of the hit knocked him off of Cassidy, grips on his daggers loosening. His back hit the sand and he dazedly looked up at the sky. He could see it again. Graveler's sandstorm had cleared, and Butch had had the shot.

Cassidy was suddenly in his vision. "The boss is going to love us for this," she said, hair dangling limply over her shoulders, long enough to hang in his face as she spoke. He turned his head, looking at Gary, unnaturally still. Resigned, Ash looked back up at her. He was so tired.

"I'll be sure to tell your mother hello."

His mother. Gary's family. Misty and Brock.

He couldn't to rest yet.

Cassidy raised her knife then plunged it down. His left arm was useless, but his right came up to grab her wrist, their earlier struggle reversed. He grit his teeth against the pain of the gunshot wound, and struggled to keep the dagger out of his throat. It was slowly making downward progress, the tip inching closer, no matter how he tried.

"Aurora beam!" Cassidy was suddenly violently shoved off of him with a scream.

Ash took advantage and used his working arm to grab one of the daggers he'd dropped, rolling over and shoving it into her chest before she could get back up. She looked at him in a bit of shock and blood began to build in her throat, gurgling from her mouth as she coughed once.

"Commander!" a grunt yelled, leveling his weapon to fire at him, but another shot rang out before he pulled the trigger. Ash had expected the bullet to be for him – retaliation from Butch for stabbing his partner, but instead the grunt dropped like a sack of potatoes.

The beach erupted into chaos. More pokemon were summoned, gunfire began, and when Ash glanced over his shoulder to see where the original hyperbeam had come from, he was surprised to see Misty directing her Staryu into the fray, standing next to Lorelei, who was summoning her other pokemon to join her Cloyster on the battlefield. The sand around him suddenly started flying into the air in little dust clouds as one of the grunts aimed his gun at him. Ash pulled the knife out of Cassidy's chest and threw it hard; it sunk into his neck and the guy dropped, shooting into the air several times as his finger stayed on the trigger.

More grunts took aim at him, and he used his good arm and his legs to scrambled backward in the sand.

A rumbling noise came from above them, and Ash looked up in time to see what looked like a boulder rolling fast down the hill above the tunnels. It was moving at a breakneck pace, and when it hit the beach it didn't stop rolling until it was in front of Ash. It unfolded itself with a deep, "Grav!" and gave his trainer enough cover to escape backwards to where Gary was.

Graveler being here meant that Brock had been successful in the mission he'd taken on. Ash had sent Pikachu and Graveler (after having him cause the sandstorm) to find Butch and take him out of the picture. That explained why the second sniper shot was at a grunt instead of him.

"Thanks Graveler - rockthrow!" Ash commanded, reaching onto his belt and letting Charizard lose with a crack. The Rockets were releasing all of their pokemon, might as well make it more of an even fight. Ash's other knife wasn't far away, and he reached out from behind Graveler and snagged it, a bullet whizzing by his hand. He used it to cut Gary loose, then pulled the gag down from his mouth.

"Come on," Ash said, throat tight, feeling for a pulse ignoring the roars, screams and gunshots all around them.

Gary's face was pale, almost as if all the blood had been drained from him. Looking at his shirt Ash wondered if maybe it had. He'd taken a gunshot wound to the shoulder before he'd even gotten to the beach, and the knife wound in his back had gone deep.

"Come on, Gary," he said, dread filling him as he couldn't feel a pulse. "You can't fucking leave me to do this on my own." And then he felt it. It was slow and weak, but it was there. He wasn't dead yet. He scrambled for Gary's pokebelt, only to realize it wasn't around his friend's waist. He looked over at Cassidy's body, and realized she was wearing two. He needed Alakazam if Gary was going to have any chance.

Elemental attacks combined with gunfire still riddled the beach, though it was beginning to look like their side was slowly overwhelming the Rockets. Ash forced himself to his feet and made a run for Cassidy, undoing Gary's pokebelt and yanking it from her waist. Before he could head back however, a hand clamped tightly around his wrist, holding him there. He looked down at Cassidy whose grin was a horrific blood filled smile, and noticed too late that her other hand was reaching to a black pokeball attached to her own belt.

Ash watched as the energy from the ball seemed to burst outward and upward, and realized as Cassidy's hand went limp and released his wrist, that this was her final fuck you.

He knew what those pokeballs meant. He'd refused to take one himself, but he understood the mechanics. It was coded to only respond to the owner. Which meant that this pokemon would not be able to be recalled.

Above Ash now towered what looked like some horrible mashup of a ninetails and a sandslash. It was nearly three times the size of a normal ninetails, however, each long tail long and twitching, while sharp spikes on its back bristled. It let out a roar that made the ground shake, and shook its head back and forth a few times as if it were in pain.

Of course it was. All of Ivy's creations seemed to be a mixture of two types that didn't mesh well, probably in the hopes that when combined, they would be stronger against more weaknesses. The problem was, when your elements clashed just existing was living in constant agony. It drove them all insane, and made them almost impossible to control, just like the one who had crashed through the Pewter City gym all those weeks ago.

It was, Ash was sure, pure luck, that the first thing the pokemon focused on was the Rocket grunts. If Cassidy was its trainer, then the only hope they had of controlling it was gone. And if that was the case, she'd decided to doom her underlings along with them.

How nice.

Ash slowly backed away, Gary's pokebelt in hand, as the hybrid pokemon growled and started attacking the grunts, who began screaming and running.

He made it to his friend just as Misty did, kneeling down next to him. "Is he…?" she asked, fearfully, looking over his injuries with wide worried eyes.

"Not yet," Ash said, releasing Gary's alakazam. "Recover!" he said, pointing at his partner. "Please."

Upon seeing the state of his trainer, Alakazam gave a concerned, "Ala!" and set to work.

"Nineslash no!" screamed a grunt, as the mutant pokemon clamped its jaws around his waist and started shaking him back and forth like chew toy.

"Ash, I…" Misty said, eyes still on Gary. "He – this is my fault."

Ash shook his head. "We've got bigger things to worry about, right now," he told her. "Once that thing gets done with the Rockets we'll be next." He stood, looking down at his partner. "We need to move him." He grit his teeth and tugged off his jacket to put over Gary, unsure where the other man's had gone since the last time he'd seen him.

"Your arm!" Misty said, noticing it for the first time.

He looked down at it. It was hanging uselessly at his left side, blood streaming down his arm and dripping off his fingertips. "Later," he said. "Help me get him out of here."

The two of them managed to pull Gary back to the entrance, where Lorelei stood, watching agape as the Nineslash attacked the rest of the grunts and their remaining pokemon with a long flamethrower attack. The smell of burnt flesh started to waft across the beach.

The former member of the Elite Four had called her pokemon back and they were standing around her, waiting for commands. Ash had recalled both Graveler and Muk (who had still been clinging to the Houndour, which had long since fainted) and called Charizard to him. The dragon had flown over them as they tugged Gary along, Alakazam following, still using recover.

"Ketchum," Lorelei said by way of greeting.

"Lorelei," Ash replied with a nod. "Thanks for your help out there."

"Nothing like recruiting for a rebellion by bringing it to your doorstep," she said with a wry smile. "And if someone could just explain to me what that thing is—"

"Ash!" Brock jumped down from above them, where he had originally climbed up on his search for Butch.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu leapt down right onto Ash's head.

"I'm sorry," Brock immediately began. "I wasn't able to find him until he let out that shot—"

Ash shook his head. "It's fine, you got him."

"But—" Brock trailed off, gaze falling on his arm, and then to Gary.

"You saved our asses, Brock," Ash assured him.

"I… think it's our turn," Lorelei said.

They looked out to the beach. The Nineslash had turned its attention to them.

"What do we do?" Misty said.

"Anybody have a huge fire extinguisher?" Ash asked.

* * *

_A/N: I was listening to too much E.S. Posthumous. Hence all the action. For those of you curious, what happened between Cassidy offering Gary that deal and Ash finding him shot on the beach will be revealed, all in due time. Aka: Probably in the next chapter._

_And don't be mad about the cliffhanger, if I hadn't stopped it there this chapter probably would have gone on another ten pages._


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT MY STUPIDITY. So, nine chapters in and I realized that I've been confusing one of my characters this whole time. I've been calling to the scientist who's creating the hybrid pokemon Suzie, when in actuality, the character I was talking about was Professor Ivy. I got the breeder and the researcher confused, and now I have to rectify that. I've gone back and fixed this in the previous chapters, but for those of you going forward I didn't want you to see the name "Ivy" and be like, who the hell is that?_

_Anyway, sorry for any confusion. _

_Onward!_

* * *

"We're really doing this, huh?" Ash murmured as he picked the lock on the door. Gary watched, impressed when it opened as easily as if he had used a key. He was getting really good at this. Training had actually paid off.

"It's just a mission, Ash," Gary reminded him. Ash shot him a look from under his hood. "Damnit. Satoshi. Sorry." He was still getting used to this codename shit.

They'd been assigned on a few missions before, but they'd all been small things. People hiding pokemon, anti-Team Rocket pamphlets, nothing really important. Nothing quite like this one.

Gary drew his gun while Ash quietly pushed the door open. They stood in silence for a moment, listening for any sign of movement or an alarm. When nothing suspicious greeted them they moved in, conversation on hold for the time being. They left the lights off, making their way through the hallways of the four story building in the dark. They'd been briefed on the floor plan, so they knew exactly where to go. Ash led the way, long bo strapped to his back, Gary behind him, gun still drawn and at the ready.

According to intel, the building would be deserted, but there was always a chance something could change. They didn't run into anyone on the way to their goal, however, and Gary was beginning to think this mission was going to be a cinch. Ash tried the handle of the door – locked. He pulled down his hood and fished his lock pick set from his pocket once more, crouching down and setting to work. Gary was even more impressed as the lock clicked open this time, considering Ash had at least had the light of the moon to work by outside.

There was no window in the stairwell as they entered it, but low florescent emergency lighting made it so that they were able to see clearly enough. They could either go up to one of the other floors, or down to the basement. They headed down.

The door from this side opened with nothing but a push of the bar handle. Gary reached out a hand and flipped the switch that was just barely illuminated by the stairwell lights, and florescent overheads slowly flickered on to reveal a fairly boring looking basement. A couple of boxes here and there, the standard furnaces and water heaters.

Ash pulled a dagger from the sheath at his hip and shoved it into the gap between the door and concrete floor, creating a makeshift doorstop.

"No wonder they call you the creative one," Gary said.

Ash glanced at him over his shoulder, lips quirked into what was almost a smile, before the expression was lost and he'd once again become serious. "Come on, let's do this and get out of here."

Gary nodded and followed, heading over to the bank of furnaces, shrugging off the pack he was wearing on his shoulders and beginning to dig through it. Ash kept watch as he carefully set to work rigging the C-4.

It wasn't long before they were quickly heading back out the way they came while the timer Gary had attached to the explosives counted down from five minutes. Gary turned once they were outside and far enough away from the building to wait.

"Do we have to watch this?" Ash asked with a sigh, once he'd realized that Gary had stopped.

"Gotta make sure it's done," Gary said. "And that nothing goes wrong with the detonation." He glanced at his partner, who was staring up at the building as they waited, face stoic, at least to an untrained eye. Gary knew him too well by now, though. He didn't want to be doing this. It was only a storage building for a group called the Pokemon G-Men – a new rebellion that was causing enough trouble that Giovanni wanted to send them a message, but Ash had very obviously had misgivings about the entire mission.

He reached out and pulled Ash's hood up. "Someone's gonna recognize you if they see you," he said. He'd been a famous figure and then he'd "died" in the takeover of Indigo Plateau not all that long ago. It wouldn't be good if he was spotted.

Ash tugged the hood further down over his eyes, shadowing his face.

They'd known it was coming, but the explosion surprised them both. Windows broke and bricks flew outward in a huge, loud, burst of flame.

"All right, we're confirmed, let's get back to HQ," Gary said turning to go.

He paused when Ash's hand shot out, gripping his jacket sleeve tightly. That's when he heard the screaming.

"There was someone in there," Ash said, and the light of the fire now raging in the building made it so Gary could see the look of horror on his face, despite his hood.

They both looked up to the fourth floor, where windows were opening and people – not just one, but many many people, were screaming for help. But the fire escapes had been blown off and the whole of the bottom floor was burning. There was no way out.

"This wasn't a storage facility," Ash said. "It was their headquarters. He knew – the son of a bitch knew it!"

Gary looked down and met Ash's gaze, but before he could say anything his partner had released him, reaching for a pokeball and starting to run back toward the building.

"Satoshi!" Gary yelled, swearing and then chasing him. "Satoshi!" He caught up to him fairly quickly, grabbing hold of his clock and tugging him backward. Ash's hood fell off, revealing the grim set of his jaw. Gary had seen that look before. That was the look he always got before he did something stupid, trying to be a hero.

But he wasn't a hero anymore.

"There's nothing you can do," Gary said, trying to ignore the screaming above them. "It's too late—"

"We've got water pokemon," Ash insisted.

"Not enough to do anything about that blaze," Gary said with a shake of his head. "And even if they could, if Giovanni finds out you saved them, what do you think he's going to take that as? A betrayal! He just needs one excuse, Ash, one, and they're all dead, along with us. He's testing us!"

Ash wavered, looking up as a woman crawled out of a window. "I can't—"

"You have to," Gary said firmly, swallowing the bile he felt rising in his throat.

"But—" Ash said, and Gary could see the uncertainty in his expression. Ash wanted to do what he knew was right, just like he'd always done, and Gary wanted to let him. Help him, even. But doing that would mean that all of this was meaningless.

"Come on," Gary said, tugging Ash back away from the flames. "We've got to go."

With one last look over his shoulder, Ash let him drag him away.

* * *

"They're killers!" was Gary's less than gentle wake up. "We should have finished them off, not helped them!" It was a male's voice, but not Ash or Brock. He wasn't ready to open his eyes yet; there was a dull ache all over his body and he was afraid that when the haze of sleep finally lifted, pain was going to set in at full force.

"They've been helping us every step of the way." Misty. "Without them we never would have found any of–"

"Exactly!" It was the unidentified male again. "They lead Team Rocket right to Lorelei's doorstep! She was safe before you showed up with them."

"I'm still safe." This voice was much closer to Gary than he expected. It sounded like she was sitting next to him. So they'd found her. Something had gone right, wasn't that nice?

"No, you're not," the man said, clearly agitated. "You're no longer in hiding; you're talking of joining a rebellion – how is that safe?"

"I know you're worried," Lorelei said. "But this isn't the same—"

The man's voice was low and dangerous as he growled, "It is _exactly_ the same."

The same as what? Gary wondered.

The room – was it a room? – fell silent for a long moment. Gary felt like he was swaying.

"Does this mean you won't help us?" Another male. Brock.

"I would rather eat my own gun then help anyone who lets this scumbag live," the other replied. There was the sound of footsteps and the slamming of a door.

A sigh came from next to him. "I'm sorry," Lorelei said. "He's just upset. He'll calm down eventually."

He heard both Misty and Brock reply, telling her it was fine.

So what had happened? Last he remembered he was bleeding out in the sand. Ash had walked onto the beach in the middle of a sandstorm—

His eyes snapped open. He'd heard Misty, Brock, Lorelei and some mystery guy who wanted him dead, but he hadn't heard anything from his partner during that whole conversation.

What the hell had happened to Ash?

He winced as the light from the room invaded his eyes, almost instantly giving him a headache.

"You're awake!" He looked over at Lorelei, who was sitting in a chair next the bed he'd been placed in. He'd met the woman once before and she looked much the same. A little paler from living in a cave maybe, but her hair was still a purplish color and pulled back into a ponytail, and she still had glasses perched on her nose. Her face was friendly and she smiled at him, but he turned his head to look for Ash.

Misty, however, was the next one he saw. She moved over to the other side of his bed, leaning over him as if to check on him. "How are you feeling?" she asked him softly, looking worried as she examined him.

Behind her was Brock, but he was the only other person in the room. He realized he recognized where they were – it was the main sleeping cabin of the fishing boat that they'd commandeered from the shipyard. So the sensation of rocking hadn't just been his imagination.

Gary started trying to push himself into a sitting position, but the minute he did, searing pain shot through his shoulder and back.

"Don't move," Misty said, leaning over him and placing her hands on his arms in a gentle but firm hold. "You're still really injured."

"Where's Ash?" he asked, wincing when he heard how his voice rasped.

Misty glanced over her shoulder and exchanged a look with Brock, which made a knot of dread form in his stomach. Finally she looked back at him. "Steering the ship," she said, and Brock, seeming to catch some meaning in the words, let himself out of the room. Gary was trying to figure out if they were telling him the full truth.

"I think you'll be all right for now," Lorelei said, and for the first time Gary noticed the tubing that connected his arm to hers, blood flowing between it. She stood and removed the needle from her arm.

"What…?" he asked.

"You'd lost a lot of blood," Misty explained. "And then we had to get that bullet out of your shoulder. Lorelei has the same blood type as you, so she's been giving you transfusions."

Gary looked at the Elite Four member in surprise. "Thank you."

"Of course," she said with a smile. "I'm glad you're doing better." She pat him on the arm then left the room.

Gary watched as Misty moved around the bed and took the seat Lorelei had just vacated, leaning over and placing a cool hand on his forehead. It was a surprisingly motherly action, something Gary hadn't experienced in a very long time. He got a flash of a memory, back before he'd lived his grandfather, a vague recollection of a woman with brown eyes and light brown hair doing the same thing.

"Your fever's coming down," Misty said, drawing him back to the present. "That's good, that means you probably don't have an infection. Here, you should really drink some water." She handed him a glass that had been set on the table next to the bed and he took a grateful sip, only then realizing how thirsty he'd been.

"I didn't get to say thank you," she said when he'd finished almost half the glass. "You didn't have to—"

A knock on the door cut her off. They looked over as Ash came inside, left arm bandaged and hanging in a sling.

"What the hell happened to you?" Gary asked immediately, his earlier quietness melting away at the sight of his friend.

Pikachu scampered around Ash's feet and hopped up onto the bed with a cheerful, "Pika-pichu!"

He wasn't sure when he'd realized that was the way the pokemon said his name, but at some point in the years he and Ash had been partners, he found he actually responded to it as if someone had said 'Gary.' "Did you yell at him for that?" he addressed Pikachu.

"Pi!" he replied with a stern nod.

"Oh no," Ash said with a shake of his head. "For once I get to be mad at you for getting yourself all messed up, not the other way around."

"I got ambushed and shot - you walked out into an obvious trap," Gary replied. "I still get to be mad."

"That's not the story I heard," Ash said with a little smile, and Gary glanced over at Misty, who seemed to find the pattern of the comforter interesting.

"I'm going to go check on Brock," she said, standing. "Let me know if you need anything." And with that she left.

Gary watched her go, brow furrowed. "I don't know her that well, is she acting weird?"

"A little," Ash confirmed.

"Why?" he asked, once again trying to sit up. He felt like an invalid laying there while he talked to Ash. It hurt like a bitch and he didn't get very far, but Ash moved over and used his good arm to help him. By the time he was in an upright position he was sweating, slightly out of breath and realized he should have probably just stayed where he was. Oh well.

"She thinks you getting shot was her fault," Ash answered him, once Gary was settled.

"It wasn't," Gary replied. He would have shrugged if he didn't think it would hurt so much.

"I know," Ash said. "I told her that after she told me what happened. Don't think she agrees though."

Gary did shrug at that, immediately regretting it. "So, I'm missing a good chunk of information here," he finally said. "What happened?"

* * *

They'd scattered when the Nineslash reared back and sucked in a breath, releasing a massive flame thrower attack and sending a stream of fire rushing at them in a long deadly burst.

"Alakazam! Teleport!" Ash called to Gary's pokemon. It stopped its Recover, reached out and touched its unconscious trainer, and the two were gone in a bright golden flash of light. Sure his friend was now out of harm's way, he sprinted after Lorelei, sliding feet first behind the large boulder she'd found for cover. Pikachu scampered next to him, crouching on all fours between his trainer and Lorelei, ears perked and at the ready.

"Never seen a pokemon take orders from someone who wasn't its trainer," she said of Alakazam as they both ducked as low to the ground as possible, to avoid their hair catching fire as flames streamed above them.

Ash cradled his left arm, trying to ignore the shooting pain that ran up it every time he jostled it. "We've worked together long enough that our pokemon trust both of us," he said with a shrug of his good shoulder. Ash's own pokemon took orders from Gary as easily as Ash, if the situation ever called for it.

"What exactly are we dealing with here?" Lorelei asked him, her long purple hair whipping around her face as the wind from the ocean picked up.

"One of Team Rocket's hybrid pokemon," Ash replied. "Looks like a cross between a ninetails and a sandslash."

"Hybrid…?" She shook her head. "Looks like I missed a lot while I was in hiding." She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Okay, ninetails and sandslash – they're both weak against water, right?"

"Assuming Ivy isn't also messing with their genes, that's a good working theory," Ash replied.

The flamethrower attack stopped and Ash chanced peering over the rock. Misty and Brock had ducked back inside the tunnels, and Nineslash took off for the entrance, clouds of sand floating up behind it as it loped across the beach. The last thing they needed was an up close and personal stream of flames in an enclosed place.

"Pikachu!" Ash said. "Thunderbolt!"

"Pika!" The little pokemon leapt up to stand on the boulder they were crouched behind, cheeks sparking as he charged up and shot a huge bolt of lightning at the Nineslash.

"Electricity's going to be useless on something that's part sandslash," Lorelei said, pulling out a pokeball and rereleasing her dewgong. They'd recalled their pokemon before the Nineslash's first attack, since it was easier to run for it without having to worry about all of them being caught up in the flames.

Lorelei wasn't wrong, but she wasn't totally right either. No way this was going to faint it, but Pikachu wasn't your normal electric pokemon - his attacks were far stronger than average, type disadvantage or not. The thunderbolt hit the Nineslash, who let out a loud, angry roar of pain. Its run to the tunnel stopped and it spun, charging their way instead.

"It'll still distract it," Ash said. "Come on, Pikachu!" He held out his right arm and Pikachu scampered up it, taking his usual spot on his shoulder. "We'll try to keep it busy, but it's your pokemon that have the type advantage," he told her, before taking off down the beach, deliberately leading the Nineslash away from the former Elite Member.

It turned into a large game of cat and electric mouse. The Nineslash chased Ash and Pikachu all over the beach, while Lorelei (soon joined by Misty) had their pokemon use water attacks. Every time the huge pokemon was hit it would roar in what seemed to be more anger than pain, but before it could turn and attack the others, Ash would have Pikachu zap it, effectively keeping its attention on them.

Dark clouds slowly began to fill the sky, casting the beach into shadow. Low rumbling indicated a thunder storm was brewing, and rain began to fall as Ash ducked behind another boulder to avoid the stream of flames that the Nineslash had just aimed his way.

The Nineslash finished and roared again, pawing anxiously at the sand. The rain was clearly causing the pokemon pain.

"Pikachu," Ash said. "Now."

"Pika-chu!" Pikachu replied, leaping from his shoulder and running to the agitated pokemon. He used agility and became a yellow blur, speeding around behind it, and clambering up one of its tails. Nineslash, realizing it had an unwanted rider, turned its head and tried to snatch him with its large jaws. Pikachu was too quick, though, leaping away and twisting in midair to land on its head instead. He crouched low, paws gripping the Nineslash's fur, so that even when it began furiously shaking its head back and forth, the little guy was latched on like a burr.

Then he began to power up, electricity sparking around him dangerously, but not releasing yet. It looked as though he was drawing power from the very air.

"PI-KA-CHU!"

The pokemon released an attack that the three other trainers on the beach had never seen before. A huge jagged bolt of lightning cracked down from the sky to the spot that Pikachu was crouched, as if he was a lightning rod. It slammed into the Nineslash with brutal force and the large pokemon was blasted off its feet. Pikachu finally lost his grip, flying into the air as Nineslash crashed to the ground.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried, running for his friend, diving and catching the pokemon with his uninjured arm, hitting the ground in a roll.

"Kachu!" Pikachu said cheerfully from his spot tucked against Ash's chest.

"Nice work, buddy," Ash said, grimacing as he slowly got to his feet.

"Pikapi!"

The mistake was assuming that Pikachu's attack had actually finished Nineslash. Any other pokemon would have been fried to a crisp by a full powered Lightning Storm, type advantage be damned. Instead, the large mutant pokemon was struggling back to its feet, tails flailing wildly. It was one of these tails that his pokemon had been attempting to warn him about. He saw it coming, but too late, and he tossed Pikachu out of harm's way only a moment before it slammed into his chest, sending him flying across the beach with unnatural strength. He landed hard on his back in the wet sand, breath exploding from his lungs as the pain in his arm shot to a level that darkened his vision for a moment, threatening his grip on consciousness.

"Ash!"

It was Brock. He and Misty appeared above him, looking him over worriedly, their hair flattened and sticking to their faces from the rain.

"NINESLASH!" It was the first time the hybrid pokemon had spoken – in fact, Ash had begun to think it couldn't.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu called, shooting a thunderbolt at it, but the Nineslash, in a rage, ignored the ineffectual attack and charged at Ash, Brock and Misty.

"Go!" Ash said to them, struggling to get to his feet.

Brock grabbed his good arm and hoisted him up, while Misty yelled, "Staryu! Hydro Pump!" Her brown, star-shaped pokemon complied silently, releasing a huge stream of water at the Nineslash. It caused it to roar in pain and change its course, loping at Staryu instead.

"Cloyster! Hydro Pump!" Another stream of water came from the right, slamming into the Nineslash and making it stumble before it furiously changed direction and ran for Lorelei and her Cloyster.

"Again, Staryu!" Misty called, over the sound of Lorelei's attack and the waves behind them.

Ash suddenly turned, looking at the ocean, wiping the rain from his face. He reached into his own pokebelt and threw a pokeball hard, whipping it over the Nineslash's head. There was a crack and his Blastoise appeared.

"Blastoise!" he called. "Hydropump!"

With a deep rumble of, "Blast!" his pokemon joined in with Staryu and Cloyster's attacks.

There was a loud, pained roar from Nineslash.

"The water's weakening it - we've got to push it into the ocean!" Ash called to Misty and Lorelei.

Lorelei gave a nod of confirmation. "Jynx! Dewgong!" she called to her other pokemon. "Hyperbeam!" They added their attack to the hydro pumps, and though the Nineslash continued to try to move toward them, it slowly began to be pushed backward, toward the water.

"SLASH!" it roared in rage, suddenly rearing up on its hind legs, tails waving wildly. They slammed into the ground, over and over, and Ash could feel the earth start to shake.

"What kind of ninetales knows Earthquake?" Brock asked as they both struggled to keep their footing.

"The kind that's half sandslash," Ash said, watching in dismay as several of their pokemon were knocked off of their feet and the attacks that had been pushing the Nineslash toward the water ceased. Expecting it to begin running at them once more, Ash found himself surprised to see that the pokemon didn't move once it was free of the water. Quite suddenly its white fur seemed to disappear under flames, which quickly began to spread out from its body in all directions.

Ash had seen this move before. Not good.

"Get back!" he yelled to the other three, back peddling with Pikachu while recalling his blastoise. "It's an inferno attack!"

Catching the urgency in his tone, Lorelei, Brock, and Misty also turned and made a run for it as the circle of flames began expanding outward toward them. The rain, still heavily falling seemed to have no effect on the unnatural fire.

"Ash, what do we do?" Misty yelled at him over the wind.

"Run!"

And they did, but the flames seemed to have no end, rushing toward them faster and faster. If it hit them – Ash had a sudden flash of screaming. A woman in a window. Fire.

If it hit him, he'd deserve it.

"Hurricane!"

The winds and rains suddenly began to blow even harder, and the heat of the fire, which had grown close enough to feel abruptly disappeared, snuffed out by the hurricane force winds that had just began. Ash turned, looking up. Through the downpour he could make out a large bulky shape flying quite steadily despite the weather. The Nineslash roared, and lowered itself to leap at it, but before it was able it noticed what Ash just had. It was slowly being pushed back by the winds, inching ever closer to the water.

It began to scrabble at the sand, attempting to find purchase, but there was nothing for its claws to sink into. They watched as Nineslash was forced backward, just as a giant wave arose. It crashed down on the pokemon and when it receded, it was nowhere to be seen.

The ground shook as the shape in the sky landed heavily on the beach, and Ash and Brock found themselves looking up at a giant dragonite. The almost playful face that Ash usually associated with those pokemon was nowhere to be seen, however. It was growling, baring long sharp teeth at them, as if they were its next target.

From its back leapt a cloaked figure, black hood raised and covering any identifying features. It drew a sword from a sheath on its belt and pointed it directly at Ash.

"Move aside," a low male voice said to Brock, who had taken a step forward, positioning himself in front of Ash.

"I don't think so," Brock replied, his normally narrow eyes narrowing even further. Misty ran up to them.

"Brock," Ash said, eyebrows raising in surprise, once more cradling his injured arm. Blood was running freely through his fingers from his earlier mistreatment of it.

"Who are you?" Misty demanded of the newcomer, keeping a safe distance from the sword. Ash saw her hand slide surreptitiously to the gun on her hip. He made eye contact with her, and gave a subtle shake of his head. She frowned but made no move.

"Move aside. I won't ask again," the cloaked man said.

"Pikapi!" Ash's pokemon scampered to stand in front of Brock and his trainer, crouching low, cheeks sparking dangerously. The huge dragonite snorted and shifted, looking ready to pounce at first command.

"What's going on?" Lorelei had been further up the beach and had finally joined the standoff, stopping short as she approached, her hair flying behind her.

"Lance has something he'd like to say," Ash said calmly, and Brock and Misty both said, "_Lance?_" simultaneously.

Of course it was Lance. Team Rocket had no one who owned a dragonite, which left the Elite Four, which really only left one option. Lorelei didn't appear surprised, but, Ash supposed, she would know her own husband when she saw him.

"Lance, what are you doing?" she asked, peering at him through her rain covered glasses. "Put down your sword."

There was a long pause as the only movement from the man was his cloak, flapping in the wind. He didn't lower his blade, but his left hand came up and tugged down his hood, freeing his red hair, which was caught by the wind and blown out of his face. His expression was one of deepest resentment as his cold, angry gaze remained locked on Ash.

"Give me one good reason not to kill you where you stand," Lance said.

Ash was silent for a long moment, meeting the look of loathing without flinching.

* * *

_"I don't have one."_

That's what Ash had said. Brock had been replaying the moment over in his mind since it had happened. It was Lorelei who had finally managed to talk down her husband and Brock was still trying to understand just what had occurred on the beach a day earlier.

When Brock had first realized that Ash was not only alive, but working as – no, practically _thriving_ as a Rocket member, he'd been overwhelmed by a feeling of total betrayal. How had the good hearted kid he'd known fallen so far? And with this revelation came the knowledge that Ash had to have been working with Giovanni when the sacking of the Plateau had occurred.

It had been hard to forgive.

But Lance hadn't known Ash – at least not like Brock and Misty had. It didn't make sense that he would be that angry at the young man for his betrayal. He didn't get it.

Brock was steering the ship, having taken over for Ash. When Misty had shot him the look in Gary's room, they'd both seemed to realize that Lance storming off angrily and Ash being alone on the deck could lead to trouble. Particularly since Lance wanted to kill Ash, and, from what Brock had seen, for some reason Ash appeared to feel like he was justified. As Brock had hurried to the helm, he couldn't help but wonder if Ash would even put up a fight if Lance made an attempt.

When Brock had arrived however, Ash was alone. Even Pikachu hadn't been with him, and Brock remembered that he'd seen the little pokemon seated outside of Gary's room. It made sense - Lance was insistent that both men didn't deserve to live, and though Ash appeared ready to let him skewer him with his sword, he didn't have the same attitude about Gary's life. Pikachu had obviously been left as a guard in case Lance tried to make any attempt on his friend.

"This is suicidal, Lorelei!" Brock glanced up as Lance's voice carried over the wind. The former Elite four member and his wife were standing a ways down the deck, but talking loud enough that Brock could still make out what was being said.

"Lance, I know you don't trust Team Rocket, and I understand, but these two aren't with them anymore," Lorelei said, trying to make him see reason. "They're working with the rebellion. Ash Ketchum fought with us, and Gary Oak - you saw how injured he was."

"No you don't understand," Lance said, shaking his head, black cloak flaring up behind him as the wind caught it. "I don't trust them."

"They're on our side," she insisted. "Just because Team Rocket-"

Brock glanced to his left as Misty quietly came up next to him. Her lips had flattened into a disapproving line, and it looked like she was getting ready to go tell Lance off once and for all. Brock knew that she hadn't been a fan of him since he'd brandished the sword at Ash.

"Not Team Rocket," Lance cut her off. "_Them_. It was them, Lorelei. Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak. Satoshi and Shigeru. They did it."

Brock questioningly met Misty's gaze. Did what, exactly? Misty elected to remain quiet and the two of them went from accidentally overhearing to actively eavesdropping.

Lorelei's lips parted as if she was going to reply, but for a moment nothing came out. Then, "How do you know?"

"I saw them," Lance said. "On surveillance footage. They set the bomb that blew up the G-men's headquarters, along with three quarters of the rebellion. Then they stood outside and they watched. They watched as the building burned. They watched as people screamed for help. They watched them burn alive."

Lorelei's hand was over her mouth and she didn't speak a while, as if trying to figure out what to say. "But-"

Brock flipped the ship onto autopilot. They were in the middle of the ocean and there wasn't a ton of sea traffic anymore anyway. "Come on," he murmured to Misty before heading over to where the two were standing.

"And how did Team Rocket find you all on Seafoam anyway?" Lance asked. "If those two didn't tip them off?"

"They could have tracked the boat," Brock said, interrupting the conversation.

Lance and Lorelei turned to look at them. Lance's expression was hard. "How much of that did you hear?" he asked.

"All of it," Brock replied.

"It was the two of them who were injured," Misty said. "Why would Team Rocket hurt them if they were still working for them?"

"To cement their position with the rebellion," Lance replied. "Now they look like heroes. Think about it. If Giovanni wants a rebellion crushed, who better to send than the two who've done it before? I've been following their 'careers.' They're the best he's got. He uses them when he wants something done flawlessly. And sure, they could have killed the rebel leaders at anytime, but why not wait? Why not draw out all four of the Elite, bring everyone to the same place and then have Team Rocket rain down holy hell on everyone there? Have they even mentioned all of the other hybrid pokemon Ivy's been cooking up in her labs? Or the environmental weapons their tech group has created? Guns that mimic pokemon attacks. What kind of chance do you think this rebellion actually stands? A handful of pokemon against all of that? It's laughable."

"How do you know all of that?" Misty demanded.

Brock was wondering the same thing. How many other hybrids were there? It had taken so many pokemon to take out one - were there two? Ten? Fifty? And elemental weapons? Why wouldn't Ash and Gary have told them anything about those?

Lance eyed them both, apparently trying to decide how much he could trust them. "I have someone on the inside," he confided after a moment. "They've kept me apprised on the goings on inside of Team Rocket, especially pertaining to those two. They're killers. Trusting them is a huge mistake. They're playing you, I guarantee it. Everyone you know is going to end up dead."

Brock could feel that doubt rising up in him again. He'd thought he'd managed to put aside his trust issues. Ash and Gary had been putting their lives on the line for them over and over - hell, Gary had taken a bullet for Misty. But why hadn't they given them the information about the hybrid pokemon and the elemental weapons? Why keep that from them?

"I don't believe that," Misty said, shaking her head. "They were put in that position because Giovanni threatened their families."

"And if Giovanni has their families?" Lance said, raising an eyebrow. "What's changed? They've killed hundreds by now. What's a few more in the grand scheme of things?"

Misty's already pale face lost the rest of the color it had in it. She looked at Brock. It was true, he realized. Regardless of Ash and Gary's true loyalties, they would always remain a wildcard if their families were still in danger. And Ash had told him that Cassidy had indicated that Team Rocket did have his mother. Misty also had said that the woman had claimed to have both the professor and Gary's sister.

They'd heard nothing from Erika yet to tell them otherwise.

"He's right, Misty," Brock finally found himself saying. "I don't know if we can trust them fully. Not when Giovanni might have their families."

"Yes we can," Misty insisted. "Cassidy offered Gary a deal. She'd give him back May if he gave me up to her. Instead of taking it, he gave me time to make a run for it. Cassidy tried to shoot me in the back and he jumped in the way. He jumped in the way of a bullet. For me. He almost got himself killed."

"You're overlooking the real question here," Lance said. "Did he do that so you would trust him, implicitly? Has this all been one elaborate ruse that's going to end in the demise of you and everything you've worked for?"

"They wouldn't do that," Misty said.

"Ash Ketchum has been lying about being dead for nearly ten years," Lance pointed out. "They've been withholding information from you. Are you honestly trying to tell me there's no chance they're misleading you?"

"I…" Misty looked at Brock again, maybe hoping for some kind of backup.

But the doubt was back, bubbling to the surface.

"The first time they showed up in the gym, they lied to us without blinking, Misty," he said slowly. "It's… not beyond the realm of possibility."

"So remove them from the equation," Lance said.

"What?" Misty exclaimed. "Absolutely not! There's no proof they're not one hundred percent with us."

"If there's even a chance that they could turn on you, it's too dangerous to keep them around," Lance said.

"We can't do that," Brock jumped in, agreeing with Misty. There was no way, he'd known that from the start. Killing Ash – he didn't have it in him.

"Then let me do it," Lance said.

"What if they really have switched sides?" Lorelei spoke up. "How can you sit here talking about eliminating people who might be trying to help us?"

"These aren't good men," Lance said angrily. "They aren't innocent men. They're murderers. And they're dangerous. Regardless of their most recent actions, nothing will change that."

Misty opened her mouth to retort, but was cut off as the comm unit hanging from her belt suddenly flared to life.

"_Misty? Misty are you there_?"

"That's Erika!" she said, grabbing it. "Erika, this is Misty."

"_Finally! I was beginning to think something had happened._"

"Long story. We're on our way now, with-"

Lance broke in. "Careful what you say - it could be monitored."

"Gary reprogrammed it so it's safe…" Brock said, trailing off when he realized that if Ash and Gary really were still with Team Rocket, then that could have been a lie.

Misty sighed. "Erika, don't say too much. There's a chance this channel is compromised. Did you get to your destination?"

"_Gotcha, staying vague. We're here, safe and sound. I know the guys were worried, so I wanted to let you know that we've got a sister here. No mom or grandfather. Sister's safe but isn't sure what happened to the other two. They… could be alive or dead at this point._"

Misty stared at the communicator, then looked at Brock. "Thanks, I'll let them know."

"_No problem. See you soon?_"

"Yeah. Shouldn't be too much longer."

Erika wished them luck and signed off.

"So the family members are still in danger," Lance said.

"Assuming they're still alive," Misty snapped.

Brock felt sick. This whole situation was fast getting out of hand. All he knew for certain was that Delia Ketchum and Professor Oak were missing, and that Ash and Gary might still be playing them, or easily compromised if their families' safety came into question. Brock didn't really want to believe it, but Lance was right, was it worth it to take the chance?

And the fact remained that they had withheld information from them, and Brock was having trouble figuring out why.

But then, if they were against them, wouldn't Giovanni already know the rebellion was at the Safari Zone? Would they be safe, regardless?

He turned abruptly and headed back into the cabin, striding quickly to the room Gary was recovering in opening the door without a knock.

"You should have told me-" Gary was saying, but trailed off as Brock burst in. Both he and Ash looked at him in surprise.

"Told you what?" Brock asked, looking between them.

Misty appeared in the door behind him. "Brock-"

He ignored her. "What should Ash have told you, Gary?"

"Nothing," Gary said, looking taken aback at the sudden questioning.

"I need you two to be honest with me," Brock said, hoping he didn't sound as desperate about it as he felt. "I need to be able to trust you."

"You've been talking to Lance," Ash said, brown eyes fixed knowingly on him.

"Is it true?" Brock asked. "Did you bomb a building full of people?"

"That was-" Gary began, but Ash interrupted him.

"Yes."

"Oh. No," Misty said, her hand coming up to rest over her heart as she shook her head. "Ash, why?"

"Orders," he said flatly.

"There's more to it than that," Gary said, beginning to sound angry.

"Explain it then," Brock demanded.

"Gary, we let them die. It doesn't matter what we were intending to do," Ash said. "That's what happened."

"_I_ let them die," Gary said. "You were going to save them. _I_ made that call."

"And I let you," Ash replied with a shake of his head.

Brock looked at Ash, trying to reconcile the boy he'd known and the man in front of him. He realized with a sinking heart that he couldn't. Ash, his friend, would never have let innocent people die. This was a stranger with a familiar face.

"Does Team Rocket have weapons that can imitate elemental attacks?" he asked them.

Ash's look of surprise was enough to confirm it. "How did—"

"Nevermind how we knew - why wouldn't you tell us?" Brock demanded, feeling more and more like he was the butt of some awful joke. "We have nothing like that. We only have a few pokemon. Why would you keep information like that from us? If we went to battle now, we'd all be killed! Or was that what you were hoping for?"

Ash looked stricken. "No, of course not," he said. "I didn't tell you because we were focused on finding the Elite Four. It seemed pointless for you to worry about that until we found them. And there might be something we can do about them, but I don't know yet." Gary looked at Ash in confusion, and Brock didn't know if it was because Ash hadn't told him anything about this possibility, or if he was now just lying through his teeth.

Silence fell over the room.

Finally, Brock said, "Your sister's at the Safari Zone," to Gary, who perked up visibly.

"She's okay?" he asked, hopefully.

"She's safe," he confirmed.

Gary slumped against the pillows in what appeared to be relief.

Ash's expression went from hopeful to blank as silence streached.

"There's no sign of your mother," Brock finally said. "Or the professor. May doesn't know what happened to them."

Gary's relief melted away into a grimace and he looked at Ash. "He's got them."

"You don't know that," Misty said.

"No, he does," Gary insisted.

"But what if…" Misty didn't seem to be able to finish the sentence.

"Well I'm not gonna sit around wondering," Gary said to her. "I'm going to find out."

"What are you going to do?" Misty asked. "Walk up to Team Rocket Headquarters and demand to see them? They'll kill you before you get to the door."

"It'll be a little stealthier than that," Gary replied. "But that's the general idea."

Ash had fallen quiet through this conversation, but after Gary's comment he seemed to wake up. "Yeah. If they're there I'll get them."

"Chu…" Ash's pokemon hadn't moved from his spot on the bed next to Gary, but he seemed to unsure of the idea.

"That's crazy!" Misty said. "It'd be the two of you against all of Team Rocket."

"I think they should do it," Brock spoke up, a solution to his inability to trust them starting to form in his mind.

Misty looked over at him in shock. "What?"

"Pika?" Pikachu seemed to share Misty's surprise.

"If anyone can do it, it's them," Brock said, trying to ignore the feelings of doubt that were threatening to make him just say 'never mind, Misty's right, this is insane.'

Ash was looking at him in a way that made Brock feel like he could see right through him. The sick feeling settling into his stomach was, for once, unrelated to the rocking of the boat.

Brock knew that he knew.

"If you do this, I'm coming with you," Misty said.

Ash finally broke eye contact with Brock. "You're needed with the rebellion."

"This is suicidal!" she exclaimed.

Brock was careful not to flinch as Ash's gaze flickered back to him at the word.

"I'm not letting the two of you go off on your own to get killed," Misty insisted. "Come back to the Safari Zone with us. We'll get a group to go with you. We'll–"

"It's better if it's just us," Ash interrupted.

"We know the place," Gary added.

"We'll drop you off somewhere near Pallet," Brock told them. "You should be able to make your way to Viridian from there."

"I can't believe you're encouraging this!" Misty growled at Brock before turning and storming out.

"Good, it's decided," Gary said, sounding pleased, despite the fact that Brock wasn't sure the man could even walk on his own at the moment.

Brock nodded, turned, and left the room, closing the door behind him and pausing in the hall, running a shaky hand over his face. What was he doing?

It was only a moment later when the door opened again, Ash stepping out and shutting it behind him. Pikachu remained in the room, presumably keeping Gary company.

There was a long moment where they said nothing, until Ash finally broke the silence. "Let him stay."

"What?" Brock asked.

"Gary. He's too injured to do this."

"What about his Alakazam's recover technique?" Brock asked.

"I don't want to use it until his fever's down and we're sure there's no complications. Healing the wound with an infection could kill him," Ash said.

"I don't think—"

"I get it," Ash cut him off. "You want us both out of here, because you don't know if you can trust us. It's the easiest way to get rid of us. Let us go back, and you'll know. Either we rejoin, or we end up dead. Either way, you can stop wondering, right?"

"Ash, that's not…" but he trailed off, because it _was _what he was thinking. Gods help him, it was. He was trying to send Ash off to certain death as a test of his loyalty.

"It's all right," Ash said, and his expression was so blank, so utterly void of emotion, that Brock honestly couldn't tell a single thing the younger man was thinking. It was scary, considering how easily he'd been able to read him when he was a kid. "I wouldn't trust us either if I were you."

"Ash, you've got to understand—"

"I do," Ash assured him. "But Brock. Please. Please, you have to let him stay. I know you don't trust him, but don't sentence him to die. I'm begging you."

Brock watched in alarm as that carefully constructed blank mask seemed to slip, and quite suddenly he was face to face with the ten year old kid he'd used to travel with, who was desperate to protect the people who were important to him. There was that doubt again, but now Brock was starting to doubt himself instead of Ash. What was he thinking? Misty was right, this was a suicide run. And Ash knew it. What right did he have to send them to their death? Maybe Ash and Gary were against them, but there was just as good a chance that they weren't. In fact, looking at Ash now, the worry on his face - he was pretty sure he knew the truth.

"Ash, never mind," Brock said. "This… this is a bad idea. I'm sorry. Forget I said anything."

Ash shook his head. "I still need to go," he said. "I can get in and get them out."

The idea of letting Ash go on his own sounded even worse. "Ash, this was a stupid, suicidal mission when it was going to be the two of you," Brock said, shaking his head. "It would be insane to go on your own."

"I have to get them out," Ash said stubbornly.

"You don't even know if they're alive!" Brock exclaimed, suddenly desperate to make him see reason.

"They have to be!" Ash exploded, then almost immediately deflated at the look of shock on Brock's face. He ran a hand through his dark hair with a sigh. "They just. They have to be."

Brock stared at him for a long while. Eventually he tentatively reached out a hand and rested it on Ash's shoulder in an attempt to reassure him. "Misty's right," he said softly. "Come back to the Safari Zone with us. Gary's not the only injured one." He looked pointedly at Ash's arm, still bandaged and in a sling. "Both of you can recover, and then we will help you get your families back. I promise."

Ash studied him curiously. "Are you trusting me against your better judgment?" he finally asked, eyebrows raising.

Brock actually let out a small laugh. "I think it's possible I was _dis_trusting you against my better judgment," he said.

"No," Ash said with a shake of his head. "You've got every reason not to. I'm… I'm not a good person. I've done some terrible things."

"Everyone makes mistakes," Brock replied, feeling suddenly like he needed to make this right. He'd just tried to get Ash killed. And Ash knew it. He knew his reasoning was probably sound, that trusting these two could very well be a huge mistake, but now that he'd stopped to think – _really _think about what he'd just done, he felt a horrified sense self-disgust settling heavily on his chest.

Ash gave a small forced smile that honestly looked more like a grimace. "This is more than mistakes, Brock," he said. "There's no making up for the things I've done."

Brock almost asked him what those things were, then remembered Lance's story about the bombing and decided that maybe it was better not to know. They fell silent, boat rocking gently beneath them as Brock tried to think of something comforting, or at the very least encouraging, to say.

"You hungry?" was the best he could come up with.

Ash's brown eyes met his gaze and he shrugged. "I could eat."

"All right then," Brock said. "I'll work on dinner."

It may be a stupid move in the long run, but he was going to trust Ash until the man gave him a real reason not to. The alternative was eliminating the threat.

Brock just couldn't do it.


End file.
